Earth King's Heir
by TentaiMahou98
Summary: After Amaimon's fight with Rin inside of the Vatican, Satan banishes his son to Assiah, possessing the body of soon to be stillborn James potter. When he comes back to Gehenna he is not the same believing that Lily and Harry both died. In harry's third year his demonic heritage starts appearing, watch how the potter plot changes when he's the earth king son. INDEFINITE HIATUS!
1. Prologue

**hello, everyone just in case your wondering i have not abandoned my first story and i won't, but this idea just came to me i was like 'I've gotta write this' and so here we are, i think the world needs more blue exorcist crossovers because not that many exist and blue exorcist is awesome.**

**this story will follow the anime not the manga (the manga's confusing compared to the anime, but the whole illuminati thing is pretty cool)**

**i actually got this idea reading a fanfic about the avengers Loki being harry's father and had a brainstorm whilst lamenting the small amount of blue exorcist crossovers, i was rather pleased because normally my imagination is rather uncooperative.**

**if you read this fanfic please review and tell me what you think, any criticism is welcome.**

**:)**

* * *

Prologue

Satan was furious and all the other demons could feel his unquenchable anger, the reason for his anger was simple, his youngest (full demon son) Amaimon had actually attempted to kill Rin instead of pretending like Samael had instructed, not only that but he would have gotten himself killed had Samael not intervened. He was so RECKLESS and IDIOTIC, Amaimon was pathetically childish and really needed to grow up and act like the Earth King, but more to the point how dare he TRY TO KILL RIN? Rin is one of the last things to remind him of Yuri and AMAIMON TRIED TO KILL HIM! Satan was absolutely furious, and the source of this fury was trembling before him.

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!" Satan growled as his son shook in fear "we all try and try but you just don't know how to follow orders, you can't follow simple instructions and your anger always gets the better of you"

"Please have mercy father" Amaimon managed to gasp out, begging on his hands and knees.

"No, no, no, Amaimon its time you learned your lesson." The god of Demons said condescendingly, causing Amaimon to quiver even more.

Satan started calling on his power as his Son shook in front of him, "you will banished to Assiah, with your powers sealed, maybe there you can learn your place"

He began looking for a suitable vessel for his son's demon soul, he'd never send him to earth in the one he already had, that would defeat the objective… 'This one should do just fine' he thought as a massive smirk spread across his face.

James potter, a baby who would not make even three days old, perfect, and with his powers sealed his vessels appearance will not change, what better way to make someone more mature, than make them grow up again. The fact he was a magic user made it even better.

He turned back to his son and smiled widely, showing off his fangs before getting to work.

* * *

The next thing Amaimon knew he was waking up, it was warm, 'wait I was kneeling before my father... where am i?...'

he opened his eyes, he was looking up at a woman she had chocolate brown hair and warm brown eyes, he was not happy, how dare this human hold him? he tried to make his displeasure known but all that came out were gurgles... 'what the hell?'

he only just noticed everything seemed bigger than he remembered... 'NO, NO, NO, he wouldn't...'

he tried to move, all he could do was flail a bit, he seemed so uncoordinated... 'HELL NO! I'M A CHILD! I FREAKING CHILD!'

he wanted to roar with anger but all he could do was cry, and he could feel his powers just out of reach and untouchable...

he could just imagine his brothers laughing about his situation, he could practically hear them...

'i'm gonna be stuck like this until this vessel dies naturally aren't i?'

'DAMMIT!'

* * *

It had been 21 years (and a bit) since that day, it had taken a while but he had gotten used to his predicament and worked to make the best of it, he'd made friends (unbelievably), had wife and even a son (even more unbelievable) but a war had started and due to a prophecy (a prophecy of all things) a insane man seeking immortality wanted to kill his son. He had never wished to have his powers back more than he did now, he would crush this _voldemort_, he would rip his very soul into thousands of pieces, and drag the remainder into Gehenna to meet his brothers... he was broken out of his violent musings when Lily walked in with Harry. It had been Lily's eyes that first drew him to her, her practically luminescent green eyes, that reminded him of the earth and the perfection of nature. He was glad Harry had her eyes; although with a hint of cyan around the pupil (he had been worried that Harry would look like his true self, luckily he looked like his current vessel, however he figured that would change when harry awakened his powers, he dreaded that day, because that would be the day where he came clean about his true heritage and he didn't know how they'd all take it) looking at Lily and Harry he really hoped when they found out who he really was that they would be open minded.

* * *

'How did this happen?' he thought as he looked into the red eyes of voldemort, 'why did peter betray us?'

He watched as the green light of Avada Kedavra sped towards him, and struck his chest, 'Damn this mortal body!'

He felt his heart stop and his body fell forward, the last thing he saw before he was thrown from Assiah was voldemort advancing towards Lily and Harry.

'NNOOOOOOOOO!'

* * *

"Ah, it seems the estranged son returns" Satan mused to his second eldest son, Samael (now known as Mephisto), "I had expected his mortal life to be a little bit longer than this"

Suddenly the ground shook beneath their feet, as a pained howl split the air, filled with anger, hatred and sorrow.

Just outside palace, back in his old vessel, Amaimon was on his knee's screaming his pain to the world as thick tears ran down his face.

* * *

**so what do you think?**


	2. Chapter 1

**thanks for the reviews everyone, i was going to put a longer, fuller summary at the start of the prologue and forgot... here is the full summary:**

**After Amaimon's Humongous fight with Rin inside of the Vatican, Satan banishes his son with his power sealed to the human world, possessing the body of soon to be stillborn James potter, to teach him not to disobey orders and make him more mature as befitting an earth king. He did not want a repeat of the Rin situation. When he comes back to Gehenna however he is not the same believing that both Lily and Harry died. In Harry's third year he starts awakening his demon heritage (mainly against the dememtors). When Mephisto goes to investigate some very strange demonic signs in little whinging in the summer after third year he rediscovers harry. Watch how the harry potter plot changes when he's heir to the earth king! **

**Amaimon will come back into the story shortly after Mephisto I think, I'll probably cut the third year down to only the important parts that change the plot, because after all everyone who reads this will probably have read all the books, or at least watched the films because otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading this fanfic, this way it cuts down the useless bits (that we already know about) and gets to the (hopefully) awesomer stuff quicker.**

**thanks for reading and please review! XD **

* * *

Chapter 1

Harry Potter was a highly unusual teenager, for one he hated school holidays, he also really wanted to do his homework, he also happened to be a wizard and recently he had noticed a green tint to his black hair (luckily his 'incredibly normal' relatives hadn't), and the cyan ring around his pupils in his eyes became ever more noticeable. So yeah, he was a pretty weird person all round (he'd even tell you that himself), he was even weirder than when he was getting visits from a house elf last year.

There was one good thing though, his black bird's nest that he called hair was finally learning to lie rather flat as he'd grown out the messiness, his short hair now fell to the bottom of his neck and was a lot straighter, and surprisingly it made him look more mature (something which his short stature failed at).

It was currently midnight and it was pitch black outside, he was sat under the covers of his bed with a torch reading some of his school books and writing an essay on the pointlessness of witch burning. A little green creature sat in front of him it looked like it was made of plants, it had little flowers surrounding its eyes, and little leaves for ears. It was tiny, barely bigger than a baby owl, he knew it was a greenman, a kind of demon (it was in one of his defense books from first year) however it was kinda cute and invisible to his relatives who hadn't received temp-taint and of course they didn't have magic to see demons with. In his defense book it said:

_A Greenman has the ability to grow plants of any sort from their body. This can be very useful in offensive techniques as well as defensive ones. Greenmans have demonstrated to be able to create a cocoon of branches in order to protect someone. They can also grow healing plants out of their bodies, which can be useful at a crucial time._

It had taken a liking to him, and he decided to keep it around after all it was very useful and was good company even though all it could really say was "nai" in varying tones (so it of course he called it 'Nai' in a great feat of imagination) but the greenman seemed to understand him easily enough.

He'd found the little Greenman in the Garden as he was doing chores, it had been sitting under a rose bush and followed him into the house and up into his room, he'd tried to quietly get it to leave but it seemed to not want to and so he decided to let it stick around.

He was currently trying to stealthily write a history of magic essay, which was why he'd ditched the scratchy from-the-dark-ages quill and bought a fountain pen, the last time he was in Diagon Alley, which was considerably quieter. He was still listening out for his 'family's' breathing anyway to make sure they were still blissfully unaware he was doing his homework.

He was rather keen to avoid more trouble from his family, as he'd given his phone number to Ron, and Ron being Ron had majorly screwed up. Screeching like a banshee down the phone to the most ordinary family on the planet was not a good idea... he'd gotten into big trouble for giving away the house phone number to 'people like him'... 'whole family of bigots' he thought scathingly.

At least this year, Hedwig was allowed out of her cage, Uncle Vernon didn't like the racket she made when she was locked up.

He looked over at the clock after finishing his essay, it was 1 o'clock, he realised with a odd jolt he'd been thirteen for a whole hour and not noticed.

Yet another abnormality about young Harry was how much he disliked birthday's, the Dursley's never remembered his birthday and he didn't see how this one would be any different.

'just another year' he thought with a sigh.

* * *

Staring out of the window, he spotted a very odd silhouette against the silver moon. He watched it as it got closer... ah, owls he realised, specifically two owls carrying a third between them. They soon flew in threw his open window and landed softly on the bed, Nai leapt off the bed and onto his shoulder in fright, burrowing into his hair.

The middle one, which was unconscious, was old and grey; He recognized it to be Errol, the Weasley family owl, one of them was his own owl Hedwig and the other owl was a handsome tawny carrying a hogwarts letter. He undid the Hogwarts letter and package first, the owl flew off when he did looking pleased with its delivery.

He turned to the other two owls, he took the parcel of Errol and carried it over to Hedwig's cage, where it opened its eyes and took a grateful gulp of water. 'poor thing' he thought 'the Weasley's really need a new owl, this thing's on its last legs'

He then removed the package from Hedwig who looked very pleased with herself.

He felt very warm at the consideration of his friends, that they cared enough to make sure he didn't get nothing for his birthday.

"thanks guys" he murmured, Nai (now seated on his head) looked curiously down at him, obscuring his view as it looked him in the eye. He chuckled quietly at the little Greenman's antics before picking him up and putting him back on the bed.

* * *

From hermione he'd received a letter about her trip to France as well as a broom servicing kit, and from Ron he got a pocket Sneak-a-scope (he couldn't help but think he could've used one of those in his previous years).

He turned to the package from Hagrid... when he picked it up it moved... only slightly but still it moved. Staying on the side of caution he picked up Nai and put him on his shoulder before going back to the package, gingerly he opened it... and out fell a book.

He barely registered its gold writing 'The monster book of monsters' before it flipped onto its edge and scuttled sideways like a crab, off the bed, across the floor and under the desk, into the dark shadows that lay there. He followed it silently grabbing a belt as he did and knelt down in front of the desk, quick as a flash he lunged for the book , lifted it off the ground and with inhuman speed buckled the belt around it.

Finally able to get a better look at it, he noticed it was green and the open edge acted like a mouth, it had slight ridges along the spine, suddenly having a brain wave, he ran his hand lightly over them the book stilled and purred (well the book equivalent of purring). 'A monster book of monsters indeed, this is Awesome!'

After writing thank you replies, to Hagrid particularly (that book was just cool) and getting them ready to send off with Hedwig and Errol (when the latter was rested of course) he decided it was about time he went to bed.

He'd work on black mailing his uncle to sign his Hogsmeade permission form in the morning, it was good to occasionally indulge his more Slytherin side.

* * *

When he went down to breakfast the next morning everyone else was already up, watching the news about a 'Sirius Black' escaping from prison.

He mainly tuned out his 'family' completely, until he heard-

"I better go, Petunia, Marge's train gets here at ten"

Harry very nearly did a spit take, but swallowed in time. "A-Aunt Marge?" he spluttered "she-she's not coming _here_ is she?"

"She'll be here for a week" Vernon snarled.

Harry's head hit the table with a loud thud. 'God, kill me now' he thought.

Ignoring Harry's repeated attempts to cave his skull in, Vernon continued on "And on that subject we need to go over some things before she gets here"

Harry's head perked up, 'opportunity for blackmail spotted' he thought, fighting to keep the rather twisted smirk off his face, as he looked up at his uncle.

* * *

"Whilst she's here you will be civil" Vernon said,

"I will if she will"

"she doesn't know about your abnormality, so no funny stuff"

"Very well" he sighed.

"And we've told her you go to St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys-" "WHAT?" "-And that's the story your'll stick to boy or there'll be trouble"

Harry glared mildly at him (keeping it mild to help his future chances for blackmail) but still followed him out into the hall,

"your not coming with me Boy" His Uncle snapped.

"As if i'd want to, what I do want is to ask you something" Harry said trying to keep his tone fairly pleasant, channelling his inner Slytherin. "Third years at my school are sometimes allowed to visit the village nearby"

"So?" his uncle snapped,

"Well, we have to get permission from our legal guardian, so will you sign my permission slip?"

"Why on earth would I do that?" Vernon sneered (personally he thought Malfoy's sneer was more impressive), he let a small almost invisible smirk grace his face, his uncle was walking right into his trap.

"Well, it is an awful lot to remember, about St Burns and all" Harry said, the slip up deliberate.

"ITS ST BRUTUS'S" his uncle snapped

"yes that, what if i forget and blurt out something about my 'abnormalities?'" Harry said slyly (air quoting his uncles own words back at him).

"_well you'll get the stuffing knocked out of you!" _his uncle snarled, advancing with his fist raised.

"that won't make Aunt Marge forget what she heard, will it? but if you sign my slip... well its an incentive to remember isn't it?" Harry argued calmly.

"FINE! I'll sign... after Marge is gone. Is that clear?"

"Crystal, uncle"

* * *

He went up into his room, and packed away all signs of his 'freakishness' sending Hedwig and Errol off telling them not to come back for a while (as well as adding that part to the letter replies he'd written), making sure to thoroughly apologize to Hedwig about the whole situation.

He'd leave Nai where he was, 'she wouldn't be able to see him even he was jumping up and down in front of her face' he thought rather smugly.

* * *

All to soon for his liking Uncle Vernon was back with Aunt Marge.

'welcome to hell' Harry thought tiredly, as Petunia shouted up the stairs to get down and welcome their 'guest'.

* * *

Overall he thought the week had gone rather well, minus him accidently shattering a glass after a remark about his mother, and it was finally the last day.

Every time she'd agitate him he'd think about passages in his Broom-care handbook, which seemed to work rather well...

Considering it was the last night, Petunia had made a very fancy three course dinner and Vernon had uncorked several expensive bottles of wine. Harry was currently eyeing Marge warily, she'd already had a lot to drink and Vernon was offering her more and more and more, he knew what alcohol did to people and he very much wanted to escape from the room before he did something reckless and stupid. Nai, who had taken to riding on his shoulder everywhere, seemed to share his sentiments, as he was tucking on his hair and squeaking at him.

"you'll be a proper sized man, Dudders, like your father..." Marge was currently saying "now this one here-" she said pointing at Harry, "he's got a runty look about him, you get that with dogs... i had Colonel Fubster drown one last year. Ratty little thing, weak, under-bred"

'_I am not under-bred and __i am not weak, i killed a bloody basilisk! with a_ sword!'

"it all comes down to blood-" she continued "- like i was saying the other day, bad blood will come out, no offence to you petunia or your family, but your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best families-"

'S_he sounds like those pure-blood bigots, I didn't think I'd ever hate anyone more than Draco frickin' Malfoy, God i hate this women, if you can call her that she looks like a whale '_

"-then she ran off with that wastrel and here's the result in-front of us"

Harry was desperately trying to stay calm, his fists clenched in his lap as he glared at his plate. Dudley was looking at him worriedly, 'At least one of them has a brain' he thought scathingly.

"This potter-" she carried on, oblivious of the ticking time bomb she was activating "-you never said what he did?"

"didn't work... unemployed" Vernon said glancing sideways at Harry, noticing the dangerous territory they were in.

"As expected" she said pompously "a good-for-nothing, lazy scoundrel-"

"HE WAS NOT!" Harry snapped, glaring at her with those luminescent green eyes. The table went very quiet...

"Don't tell lies, boy! proud of you parent's are you? got themselves killed in a car crash and left you with good hard-working people-"

"**THEY DID NOT DIE IN A CAR CRASH!**" he yelled leaping to his feet and slamming his fists down on the table, not noticing the cracks he made along its surface.

"THEY DIED IN A CAR CRASH YOU NASTY LITTLE LIAR, AND LEFT YOU A BURDEN ON HARD WORKING PEOPLE! YOU INSOLENT-"

she didn't finish her sentence as the whole neighbourhood shook to its very foundations, shattering vases and sending pictures crashing to the floor, the room seemed to grow dark, as the lights flickered off and on, lit mainly by his glowing green eyes, with the cyan ring burning like flames against his pupil.

"shut it!" It was growled quietly, but echoed around the room, as cracks appeared in the floor.

Then Marge began to swell, starting from her fingers and face, she began swelling up like a balloon. Her buttons on her jacket popping off one by one as she got bigger and bigger. The earthquake abated and the lights came back on as they all stared as Marge started to rise off the floor and to the ceiling as if she'd been filled with helium.

"MARGE" Vernon cried as he desperately tried to pull her back down.

He was nearly lifted off the floor himself.

Harry tore from the dining room, and into the hall, he nearly wrenched the cupboard door off its hinges as he ripped it open shattering the lock, quickly gathering up his stuff he took the steps three at a time and went straight for his room. Ripping up the loose floorboard he grabbed the reminder of his things and threw them in his trunk, making sure to grab Hedwig's cage he ran out of his room and down the stairs.

"GET BACK IN HERE AND FIX HER!" his uncle screeched as he grabbed Harry by the arm.

Harry threw him off with ease and whipped his wand out of his jacket pocket, "Get back!" he snarled.

With Vernon getting the message not to get in his way, Harry ripped open the front door (denting the wood) and within seconds was out and into the night.

* * *

**What do you think of chapter 1 then? the next chapter will probably be longer as i'm going to make it cover everything from the knight bus to the hogwarts express arriving in hogsmeade. Nothing much special will happen so it won't really require much detail. Like i said at the top of the page i probably won't include parts of the story that would be the same as the actual book, because its a waste of time, so i can cover quite a few chapters at once. **

**thanks for reading! :)**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello again, thanks for all the reviews everyone! i'm really pleased with how this stories going, it seems to be doing a lot better than my first story.**

**right i'm going to answer a question that was asked in review by Yaodai, I should of made this clear actually because its kind of important.**

**the way I've decided its going to work is Wizard's and Witches can all see demons but can't tame them as familiars or anything like that without proper exorcist training, but they can see them, i came to this decision because in the book it says a grindylow is a kind of water demon so if the harry potter world has demons any way it wouldn't make sense to say that they have to receive temptaint to see them.**

**and the exorcist world and the wizarding world know about each other but try to stay out of each others way, when something goes wrong with one world the other stay out of it, so that means the exorcist's don't really know what's happening in the wizarding world and the wizarding world has no idea what the exorcists are doing (they don't have a clue about Satan nearly taking over the world with the giant Gehenna gate or anything like that). **

**so thanks for all the reviews! and thanks for reading my story! XD**

* * *

Chapter 2

Harry was several streets away, before he'd calmed down enough to realise exactly what he'd done.

'Great, just great! just caused an earthquake, and blew up Marge... and I broke the bloody statue of secrecy as well' He thought with increasing panic 'I'm so screwed. I'm going to be expelled for sure!... DAMMIT, what the hell am i going to do?'

He sat down heavily on a low wall, he knew he couldn't sit here forever... otherwise he'd have to explain to the Muggle police why he had a trunk full of spell books, 'that'd be a fun conversation' he thought scathingly.

He suddenly got a very odd feeling that he was being watched... he stood up straight with his wand at the ready... there! between the houses in the gap there was something there...

He heard it rather than saw it, 'please just be a cat'

"lumos" he muttered, lighting the tip of his wand up.

There was something very big with two gleaming eyes up against the garage door. Nai dived down his jacket in fright. He backed up but his trunk hit the back of his knees and he toppled over.

There was deafening BANG, and something with three massive stories on wheels came hurtling down the street towards him. He rolled backwards and up into a crouched position just in time to avoid being run over (for once actually thanking whoever made PE mandatory in primary school). It was a _violent purple Bus_, it had "The knight Bus" written on the front in gold lettering.

'well it seems for once, things are looking up'

* * *

'I retract my statement about things looking up' he thought, as he was jostled all over the place every time the driver decided it was time to cross half the country in a second, or drive through a gap that should not fit a bus this size.

'Bloody wizard's! who's idea was this?'

* * *

"well ere we are Neville" said Stan Shunpike as he unloaded Harry's trunk from the Bus.

"_There _you are Harry" said a voice he recognized from last year. 'dammit!'

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned around, and there was Cornelius Fudge-Minster of Magic. 'DAMMIT TO HELL!'

* * *

"Well Harry, you sure had us all in a panic. Running away from your Aunt and Uncle's in the dead of night. I'd started to think... well it dosent matter, your here and your safe, and that's what matters" Fudge said, "your'll pleased to hear that the accidental magic reversal squad, have dealt with the blowing up of Marjorie Dursley and we've managed to fix the majority of the Earthquake damage (well the worst of it), Miss Dursley has been punctured and her memory modified. So that's that, no harm done!" he said cheerily.

'I caused a small localised e_arthquake _how can he be this cheerful? it should have given the ministry loads of extra work'

"Ah are you wondering what your Uncle and Aunt are going to say?" Fudge continued (misinterpreting the silence) "they were very angry of course, but are willing to take you back next summer."

'And here i was thinking i'd never have to see them again' he thought 'i should know by now not to get my hopes up'

"Hang on, what about my punishment?" Harry blurted, unable to keep silent the question that was making his heart attempt to beat its self out of his chest.

"punishment?"

"Yeah, i broke the statue of secrecy and managed to cause an _earthquake_, what will my punishment be?"

"oh, we don't punish children for a mere act of Accidental Magic" Fudge said, clearly beginning to sweat a bit.

'there's something really fishy going on here'

* * *

"Have you had any luck with Sirius Black yet?" Harry asked.

The Minister fumbled with his cloak, "Ah, heard about that have you?... well, no, not yet... but the Azkaban guards have never failed yet..."

'This is getting really suspicious, why did he stumble so much? loads of people have probably asked that question'

* * *

After Fudge left, Tom showed him up to his room.

The room was rather spacious, highly polished furniture, a crackling fire and perched on the top of his wardrobe-

"Hedwig" he exclaimed, going over to pet her.

"Smart Owl you got there, she arrived a few minutes after you did" Tom said, "If you need anything don't hesitate to ask"

"Thanks Tom"

* * *

He spent the next few days just exploring Diagon Alley, which in the other two times he'd been there he hadn't had the chance to do, and completing his homework, which his relatives had prevented him from doing.

It did take a while for him to get used to his new found freedom, he even managed to find a shop that sold muggle clothes, in the window it said "the best way to blend in is to look like them" so he no longer had a wardrobe of mainly Dudley's hand me downs. He was so glad that people had created Jeans and T-shirts, he no longer looked like a beggar or a homeless person.

He'd spent a lot of his time outside Florean Fortesques ice cream parlour writing his essays and eating ice cream sundaes (why on earth was a cockroach cluster so popular?) but he'd also spent a good portion of his time ogling at the Firebolt (fastest broom ever made) never had he wanted something so much, but he was fairly sensible and wasn't willing to spend that much money on a Broom, he already had a good one as it was.

The best part of his stay was when he went to get his school books...

* * *

He spotted a gilded cage, containing many monster books of monsters, 'ah, so that's why Hagrid sent me that awesome book'.

He walked in, and a shop attendant came rushing over, "Hogwarts?" he said abruptly.

"Yes, i need-"

"out of the way" he said bustling over to the cage and grabbing a pair of tongs

"Wait! I've got one of them!" He said hurriedly.

"You do?" He looked like he was about to cry with joy, Harry had a hard time keeping a straight face.

"Yes, here's my book list, I've only got the monster book so far" he said handing him the list.

Just then, two of the books started pulling a third apart.

"No, no stop it!" cried the assistant.

"if you stroke the spine, they'll let you open them or bind them, ya know" Harry stated matter-of-factly.

"that's it? all you have to do is stroke the spine?" now, the assistant really looked like he was about to go cry in a corner.

it was so hard not to laugh at the look on the poor persons face. Nai who was still seated on his shoulder (and had been garnering a lot of attention from everyone else since Harry arrived) couldn't hold it and burst out in fits of cute little giggles.

* * *

As the days slipped by, he didn't spot Hermione or Ron for ages, he'd spotted plenty of other Hogwarts students like Seamus, Dean and even Neville.

As he woke on the last day of the Holidays, He got up and got dressed thinking he'd see his friends tomorrow on the hogwarts express, he looked in the mirror and combed his hair (which he had noticed since the earthquake incident had gone even greener, he was now positive that it had something to do with accidental magic and would eventually go back to being black, but he sincerely hoped it stayed straighter instead of looking like a birds nest again), as usual he had breakfast in the Leaky Cauldron and then wandered about Diagon Alley wondering where he should eat lunch today when-

"HARRY!"

he turned around and spotted Ron and Hermione in front of the Ice cream parlour, he walked over.

"Finally we've been looking every where for you" Ron exclaimed "Madam Malkins, Flourish and botts-"

"I've been here ages, got all my stuff last week" Harry interrupted before Ron could go off on a rant.

"Did you really _cause an earthquake?_ Harry" Hermione blurted out.

"Well kinda, as well as inflating Aunt Marge"

"HARRY!" she said, as Ron burst out laughing.

"its not funny he could have been expelled- and what is that?" she said aghast, staring at Nai who was still in place on Harry's shoulder.

"This is Nai, its a Greenman" he said.

"Harry a Greenman is a kind of demon!" Ron said looking at the little thing in fright.

"Well, yes but they are mostly harmless and are mainly used for defense and healing as they can grow any kind of plant from themselves" Harry stated, whilst they looked at him in shock.

"What? I pay attention in most classes, okay?" he snapped rather defensive.

* * *

After they gotten over the shock of little Nai (who was still riding on Harry's shoulder) they walked to the Magical Menagerie, Hermione wanted a pet and Ron's rat was ill.

Inside the shop it was incredibly noisy, which Nai added to (probably complaining about how loud it was, without realising he was making it worse), Hermione went to look around as Ron went to the counter to see about his rat.

Harry mainly tuned them both out as Nai started to attempt to converse with him, he had no clue what it was trying to say and just looked at it blankly, Nai got in a mood and hopped down into the breast pocket of his shirt where it sat with its head poking out, looking very sulky.

He turned back to the others as he heard-

"NO, CROOKSHANKS NO!"

it was an orange ball of red fur and it had lunged at scabbers, he noticed hermione look at the cat curiously.

'this will not end well'

* * *

And that was how they ended up walking back to the Leaky Cauldron with the orange fur ball (that looked like it had run into a wall head-first at the speed of a jumbo jet) and Ron keeping a protective hold on Scabbers, whilst Harry walked between them with Nai still sat in his pocket who was looking less sulky now.

They found Mr Weasley sat at the bar in the leaky cauldron.

"Ah, Harry" he said upon spotting them "how are you?"

"Fine, thank you"

Mrs Weasley came in soon after, followed by the Twins, Ginny and the new Head-boy Percy.

Percy walked over and if he'd never met him before, held out his hand pompously and said-

"Harry. How nice to see you"

Harry desperately tried to keep a straight face as he replied "Hello Percy"

"I hope you're well-" Percy continued before Fred elbowed him out of they way.

"Harry" he began bowing low "Simply splendid to see you, old boy"

"Absolutely spiffing-" George continued, whilst Percy scowled.

"that's enough you two" Mrs Weasley scolded. "you should set an example to your sister"

Harry just smiled lightly as he watched the family bicker back and forth, Nai climbed back up onto his shoulder and nuzzled his neck like a cat, watching the proceedings with interest.

* * *

After dinner, and after the inevitable issue with Nai ("its a demon, Harry" "I know but its not dangerous" he said as if talking to a small child) they had all gone up to pack and then to bed. Well all of them except Harry who had walked in on Percy and Ron arguing, as apparently Percy's head boy badge had gone but so had Ron's rat tonic.

"I'll get scabbers stuff, I've already packed" Harry said walking back downstairs.

* * *

He heard angry voices from the Parlour on his way to the Bar for the rat tonic.

"...makes no sense not to tell him!... he's got a right to know!" he heard Mr Weasley say.

"the truth would terrify him" Mrs Weasley argued. 'that is incredibly insulting' he thought, easily gathering just who they were talking about.

"i want to put him on guard... he's ended up in the forbidden forest twice... but he must'ant do that this year..."

'this is getting interesting' he thought as he moved to get in better hearing distance, gesturing Nai to be quiet.

* * *

After Mr and Mrs Weasley went up to bed, he gave the Rat tonic to Ron, before walking into his room and lying flat on his back on his bed.

'This explains everything' he thought 'why i got away with that earthquake, why fudge was so relieved I was at the leaky cauldron, why we've got ministry cars to take us to the station'

Nai leaped off his shoulder and onto the pillow next to him, sensing his frustration.

'_this is_ _infuriating, i am not a child any more! i should not be treated like one, especially after last year! I nearly died and would've if it hadn't been for Fawkes'_ he thought angrily, a scowl etched onto his face.

The room began to grow dark as his anger rose, the pupils of his eyes began to glow slightly red.

'_I've faced voldemort three times, I am not weak'_

The room began to creak and groan under the pressure of his writhing magic power.

"I will not be Murdered by Sirius Black!" he snapped out loud.

"that's the spirit dear" replied his mirror sleepily.

It was only then he realised he hadn't had his glasses on for the majority of the day and didn't have an issue at all, besides some of the smaller stuff being blurry...

'_why can't I be normal for one day in my life_?'

* * *

Tom woke him the next morning with his usual cup of tea and toothless grin (hadn't these wizards ever heard of dentists or dentures). Harry got dressed (lamenting the very dark green hair, Which no one had noticed yet, luckily) and persuaded Hedwig to get back in her cage, Nai taking his usual spot on his shoulder, just as Ron barged into the room (shocking Nai off his perch) and began loudly complaining about Percy and how he couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts and away from him, Harry just looked at him with a very apathetic face.

'Seriously why does he think i want to know what he thinks of Percy?'

"Ron" he began, interrupting his rant about his brother, "I've got something to tell you-"

Just then the Weasley twins came in and stopped him from telling Ron about Sirius Black. 'Damn'

As they walked down to breakfast Ron asked, "What were you going to tell me?"

"Tell ya later" he muttered.

* * *

He didn't get a chance to tell Ron or Hermione, as he got thoroughly caught up in the Typical Weasley chaos. Whilst everyone ran around like headless chickens Mr Weasley was outside waiting for the ministry cars to arrive.

"They're here, come on Harry" he said once he was finally back inside.

He marched Harry to the car and practically shoved him in, glancing up and down the street warily, 'that's not obvious at all is it' Harry thought.

He was soon joined by Ron, Hermione and Percy. The trip to King's cross station was extremely uneventful compared to the previous years, they reached their destination with twenty minutes to spare (which for the Weasley's was probably a record).

Mr Weasley kept very close to Harry all the way into the station, Harry could feel his anger rising again '_not even the most stupid or insane mass murderer would attack in broad daylight with hundreds of muggles able to see, and hundreds of adult Wizards ready to help if need be!_'. Some of the overhead lights started flickering.

"Right then, lets do this in Pairs, I'll go through with Harry and the rest of you can follow after us" Mr Weasley said (yet again, not very subtle)

They leant against the Barrier, and when they were sure that the Muggles wouldn't notice them go they stepped sideways (Harry keeping a very close grasp on the little Greenman) within seconds all off them, Nai included, were staring at the scarlet train.

Once all the others were through, Mr Weasley led the way to the end of the train and into a relatively empty carriage, after stowing the trunks on-board they all stepped back off the train for their goodbyes.

After all of them receiving hugs from Mrs Weasley (which harry found awkward but nice, especially when she gave him an extra hug) and getting aboard the train, Mr Weasley pulled harry aside.

'here we go' Harry thought tiredly.

* * *

He was asked to assure Mr Weasley he wouldn't go looking for Black no matter what he heard, that confused him causing to tilt his head slightly 'why on earth would i go looking for someone who wants to kill me?'

Steam began to billow from the train and it began to move, His Friends threw open the door to the Carriage door as he ran forwards and leapt onto the train with agility he didn't know he had. They all waved at the Weasley's from the Window, before retreating as the train went around a corner and they were out of sight.

Suddenly realising something he checked all of his pockets, before sighing with relief when he found Nai in the breast pocket of his shirt, He'd gotten very attached to the little creature.

Turning back to Ron and Hermione he said "I've got something to tell you, in private"

"Go away Ginny" Ron said without hesitation.

"Fine" she said huffily, walking off.

* * *

After finding a compartment that was mainly empty (it only had one occupant who was asleep).

"who's that?" Ron asked tactfully as usual.

"Professor R J Lupin" Harry said before Hermione could, looking at the name on the trunk.

As soon as they had stowed there trunks as silently as possible, Harry for some reason finding his very easy to lift, they all looked at him expectantly.

Taking a deep breath, he began...

* * *

It was rather odd that they seemed more worried than he was about the whole thing, Ron looked thoroughly shell-shocked and Hermione had her hands in front of her mouth, her eyes wide.

"oh... Harry, you can't get into trouble this year-" hermione began.

"I do not go looking for trouble" Harry snapped rather incensed by that comment.

"yes, but Harry you can't-" she broke off looking at him curiously.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head at her.

"What have you done with your hair?"

"I've not done anything to it!" he said indignantly.

"its dark green!" she snapped.

"yes, and I haven't done anything to it!... its just changed colour... how did you only just notice today?" he asked incredulously.

"when did it change colour?" she asked curiously

"Before the Earthquake incident" he answered immediately.

she began to open her mouth again, but Ron interrupted her "Are you really discussing this now? shouldn't "Harry's got Sirius Black after him" be more important than his colour changing hair?"

"Your right Ron... you really mustn't go after black Harry"

"I am not suicidal i will not go after someone who wants to kill me!" Harry snapped, once again annoyed.

"Good" she said as if that ended the matter, ignoring his anger.

* * *

The Hogwarts Express moved steadily more north, and the scenery became wilder and more untamed, Harry couldn't help but think that this was much better than the neat fields and symmetrical hedges found further south, it was more natural, Nai's contented cute "Naiiiiii" sounds told him that he agreed with him.

The Newest Professor wasn't very good company but he did have his uses-

When the rain really started to fall, Malfoy came around flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"look who it is!" he said in his usual drawl "Potty and the Weasel" he added with dark glee.

Before Malfoy could pick a fight, Harry stood up and faced them (noting with pride he was now three inches taller than Malfoy, he really must have grown over the summer, Malfoy used to be bigger than him). "What do you want Malfoy?"

"Well potter-" he began sneering before looking up and breaking off curiously. "is your hair green?" he asked uncertainly, thinking there was something up with his eyesight.

"Yes it is, it seems to have decided to change colour at some point over the summer" Harry replied apathetically "you know what's a little strange is it took my friends the better part of two days to notice and you spotted it right away, that's just odd isn't it?"

Ron and Hermione flushed bright red behind him.

Malfoy was about to drawl out something in reply when he spotted the only adult in the room. "who's that?" he asked warily taking a step backward.

"Professor R J Lupin" Harry answered without hesitation, "New defence teacher"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes, he wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight in front of a teacher new or not, "Come on" he gestured to the gorillas behind him as he stalked off sulkily.

Harry sat back down unchangingly, not really not bothered by Malfoy at all, he put it down to being more mature.

* * *

The rain and the wind was still pelting down against the windows but the professor did not stir in his slumber.

Eventually lights flickered on in all the compartments as the sun sank beneath the horizon.

"we must be nearly there now" Ron said, peering out the window, around professor lupin. No sooner where the words out of his mouth than did the train start to slow down. "see, what i told you?"

Harry checked the watch he fixed once belonging to Dudley, "We shouldn't be there yet" he said confidently.

"yeah, we really shouldn't" Hermione agreed with him.

"then why are we stopping-" Ron was cut off from saying anything else as the train jolted to a halt, and all the lights went off.

"What's going on?" Hermione whispered worriedly.

"no idea" Harry said Honestly, the darkness didn't bother him much, as his vision was clearly less affected than it should have been.

"Ouch!" gasped Hermione. "Ron, that was my foot!"

"D'you think we've broken down?"

"Dunno..."

"Unlikely, magic trains don't just break down" Harry said, 'What the hell is going on?'

"There's something moving out there," Ron said, looking out the window "I think people are coming aboard..."

The compartment door opened and someone fell over Harry's legs.

"Sorry - d'you know what's going on? - Ouch - sorry"

"Hello, Neville," said Harry, pulling Neville up by his cloak, he could see him as plain as day, and he looked rather frightened, which was of course understandable.

He took Nai down from his shoulder and into his Breast pocket, to make sure he knew where it was.

"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"

"No idea - just sit down -"

There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain; Neville had tried to sit on Crookshanks. Harry found that rather funny.

"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," came Hermione's voice. Harry saw her pass him, heard the door slide open again, and then a thud and two loud squeals of pain, she'd walked right into another familiar face.

"Who's that?"

"Ginny?"

"Hermione?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Ron -" "Come in and sit down -"

"Not here!" said Harry hurriedly, as Ginny tried to sit on his knee "I'm already sat here!"

"Quiet!" said a rather hoarse voice suddenly, it was professor Lupin he had finally woken up.

Some light was finally shed on the situation as Professor seemed to be holding a hand full of flames, they were blue, Harry flinched, for some reason it seemed to be a natural reaction as Nai who'd had his head poking out of his pocket ducked down and Quivered slightly. He didn't know why he flinched, hermione had used a similar spell in year one and hadn't been bothered, ignoring yet another oddity, he looked to see what the professor would do.

"Stay where you are!" he ordered, Harry had no issue with following that order, he had a really bad feeling all of a sudden.

Lupin walked towards the door, he reached for the handle, a feeling of overwhelming fear rose up inside of Harry, there was something on the other side of that door, he could feel it, dark and twisted that made his insides clench-

"DON'T OPEN IT!" he shouted,

but the door opened before Lupin could touch it, a hand reached inside it was glistening, greyish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water..., it belonged to a cloaked figure that towered over them all...

it sucked in a great rattling breath, the air seemed to grow very cold, he felt like was drowning in freezing ice water, the cold went deeper then even his skin, it seemed to wrap around his soul and into his heart...

And then, as if from far away, he heard screaming... pleading screams. He wanted to help them, they sounded so helpless and afraid he tried to move his arms, but couldn't move them more than a few inches... a thick white fog was swirling around him, inside of the very depths of his being... then he saw something... it was a green and glowing light... about the size of a small flame, it was bright and warm, he tried to reach for it... but it seemed so far away...

"Harry, Harry are you okay?" someone was slapping him.

He grabbed the offending appendage (which turned out to be Ron's wrist) and threw it away from his face. "Why are you slapping me?" he growled out.

"s-sorry you wouldn't wake u-up" Ron stammered.

He was on the floor, Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to him, Neville and Lupin were stood over him and Ginny was sat with her knees up tucked up in the corner.

The Lanterns were swinging overhead, clearly they were moving again.

He had never felt so ill in his life, he raised a hand to his face, he was covered in cold sweat, Nai climbed out of his pocket and onto his face to look him worriedly in the eyes.

"I'll be fine..." he muttered to it, that did not seem to reassure the little Greenman, as it tugged on his hair in annoyance.

Ron and Hermione helped him up onto the seat.

"Are you OK?" Ron asked nervously.

" I Will be, who screamed? i heard a woman screaming..." Harry replied quietly.

"No, one screamed harry" Hermione said, looking at him very nervously.

"yeah, but you also said there wasn't a voice in the walls last year and we all know how that turned out don't we?" he said rather snappishly. "What the hell was that thing?"

"A Dementor" Lupin said, snapping a large chunk of chocolate and handing it to him, "Here eat this, It'll help"

Harry took the chocolate but didn't eat it.

"Eat" Lupin repeated "it will help... excuse me i need to go speak to the driver"

* * *

"Are you really Okay? Harry" Hermione asked.

"I don't really understand... what happened?" Harry muttered.

"Well that-that thing came in and looked around- well i think it did... and you-you..." she broke off looking at him concernedly.

"you looked like you were having a fit... you went sort of tense and rigid... and fell out of you seat, and started twitching... the whole carriage started to shake a bit... then-" he paused for a bit "-then lupin said none of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks, leave! but it didn't go... Your Greenman thing started to cry a bit... and then Lupin shot silvery stuff at the Dementor and it left" Ron continued.

"it was horrible" Neville said "did you notice how cold it went?"

"I felt weird like i'd never be cheerful again" Ron murmured, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably.

"But none of you fell out of your seats did you?" muttered Harry rather bitterly.

* * *

They didn't speak much for the reminder of the trip to school, even when Lupin came back to re-instruct Harry to eat the chocolate, they stayed in silence.

When they finally got to Hogsmeade the rain was coming down in icy sheets that froze them to the bone, Harry might have been less affected had he not just had to deal with the Dementors, Nai was once again perched on his shoulder and was basking in the rain, apparently recovered from the whole thing.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred dark stagecoaches awaited them, each pulled, Harry could only assume, by an invisible horse or something similar, because when they climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession.

The coach smelled of mould, mildew and straw, surprisingly it made Harry feel a little better.

As the carriage moved toward a pair of wrought iron gates, Harry saw two more towering, hooded Dementors, standing guard on either side. A wave of cold sickness threatened to engulf him again; he leaned back into the lumpy seat and closed his eyes, whilst Nai burrowed into his hair, until they had passed the gates. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt in front of the school, and Hermione and Ron got out.

As Harry followed them he heard his favourite drawling voice (the sarcasm was dripping when he thought this)

"Is it true potter? did you actually faint?"

Malfoy had blocked his path up to the castle, his face gleeful and pale face smirking.

"Shove off, Malfoy" Ron snapped.

"Aww, Weasley did the Dementor frighten you too?"Malfoy drawled.

Harry was beginning to get just a little angry, he really wanted to punch him right then and there, his hand had already clenched into a fist when-

"Is there a problem?" said a mild voice. It was Professor Lupin, who had just got out of another carriage.

"Oh, no- er- Professor" said Malfoy said sarcastically.

"move along then" Lupin instructed.

* * *

Forgetting Malfoy, they went to move into the great hall-

"POTTER, GRANGER, I want to see you both!"

'great what's wrong _now_?'

* * *

**So, what do you think? not much cool stuff happened in this chapter but it was kinda crucial, so unfortunately i couldn't cut it down and move onto the better stuff.**

**the next chapter should cover all the stuff that happens from the first school day to Christmas at least i think, I'll probably skip the meaningless stuff because it just isn't important and i really want to get up to the bit where Mephisto, Amaimon and Rin come into it quite quickly because its only after that, that it starts getting really interesting, with the exorcists thrown in the mix of years 4 and after, it will be much more interesting than year three will be, after all in year three the mainly important bits were where harry said he'd kill Sirius and the main fight plus the time travelling, and that was it. **

**so see ya next time!**

**and please review!**

**XD**


	4. Chapter 3

**hello, again and thanks for all your support, last chapter dragged on a bit, definitely not going to happen this time.**

**Right, to answer some more review questions, which I like doing because its helping keep the story on track, yes harry will have a tail, like Rin's but green because we don't really see any of the demon kings tails so I don't have any thing else to base it off, and other characters from blue exorcist will probably be in the story at some point, because of course Amaimon will want to train Harry and everyone else get involved, because it will be more interesting.**

**i'm going to skip lots of unimportant bits, but keep certain ones so it stills flows alright-ish, if you think i should include more parts of the original story just review me and I'll update the chapter to change it.**

**one part that may be confusing is the bit with the light, its based off one of the scenes with Rin in blue exorcist where he's unconscious and he sees his flame, i think it was just before his last fight with Amaimon. It represents his power.**

**Anyway,Thanks for reading! **

***just encase this is re-read, i did edit it and re-upload it because i thought i was happy with the chapter but i wasn't so now i'm making it better so i am happy with it. its nothing too drastic, or story changing, its more just the details that i currently find to be lacking.**

Chapter 3

Harry and Hermione turned around surprised, when they heard McGonagall's voice calling them. They fought their way over to her, through the opposing crowd.

Normally he would be intimated by her whole demeanour but after facing the Dementors she didn't really faze him, that and he was mentally exhausted and really just wanted something to eat so then he could go to sleep.

They followed her to her office, a rather small room with a large welcoming fire.

"Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead with a short letter, he said you'd taken ill on the train" she said once they were seated, temporarily forgetting about hermione.

Not even a second later Madam Pomfrey bustled in, he went rather red in the face (with the new hair colour he was probably doing a credible impression of a tomato), _seriously though, __fainting __was bad enough, _but now he had to put up with everyone making a fuss about it! 'I'm fine, why is everyone making a big deal about it? Its nice that they're bothered but I am not a child that needs to wrapped in bubble wrap to make sure I don't break like some China doll!'

"Oh, its you is it? I suppose you've been doing something dangerous again?" Madam Pomfrey said preparing to scold him as usual.

"It was a dementor Poppy" McGonagall interjected.

She and Madam Pomfrey exchanged rather dark looks,

'Ah, So it appears they aren't too fond of them being here' he noted.

"He won't be the last one that collapses, they have a terrible effect on people who are already delicate-"

"I am not delicate!" He growled out, clenching his fists, trying to keep the anger that had been building for most of the day in check.

"What does he need?" McGonagall said to the point as usual and ignoring Harry.

"He should have some chocolate at least"

"I've already had some, Professor Lupin gave me some on the train" he said, just a bit exasperated with the fussing.

"Did he now? Finally someone who knows what he's doing" Madam Pomfrey said approvingly.

"Are you sure you feel alright potter?" McGonagall asked,

"I'm fine" he said (forcing himself to be polite, because after all she was his head of house and she was just worried about him)

"On the subject of the Greenman-" she continued on, gesturing to the creature on his shoulder "-as long as it does no harm you will be allowed to keep it here, alright?"

He nodded. 'Lupin must have mentioned Nai in his letter too'

"Very well then, wait outside whilst I talk to Miss Granger"

* * *

He did as instructed.

He didn't have to wait very long.

Hermione emerged looking very happy about something (for Hermione this was a rather bad sign, she only usually looked this happy if she'd discovered something in the library that usually called for them to do some sleuthing, or if she'd drawn up study regimes three months early for their exams for each of them, stuff like that, it was usually something that would come back to bite them eventually)

'Dammit' he thought looking at her gleeful expression, they did not have a great track record with that expression.

* * *

They walked into the great hall for the feast behind professor McGonagall.

"Oh no, we've missed the sorting" Hermione said softly.

People looked round at them as they passed, and pointed at him, _did me fainting get around that fast? _he thought incredulously before remembering the hair, which must also be quite the topic to the gossipers, it must be even more noticeable in candlelight. He let out a sigh.

They sat down on either side of Ron,

"What was that about?" Ron muttered

Harry didn't even try to explain, as Dumbledore had just stood up.

"Welcome, back for another year of education, now I have something very serious to tell you-"

He paused here, as if he had to swallow something foul.

"You'll probably have noticed when they searched the train, but this year we are hosting the Dementors of Azkaban, they are here on business for the ministry of magic-"

Harry tuned the rest of his speech out only really paying attention when it was said that they wouldn't be fooled by invisibility cloaks (Dumbledore looked right at the golden trio when he said that, 'not particularly discrete dumbledore but thanks for the heads up' he thought).

"On a happier note" Dumbledore continued " we are pleased to welcome the new defence against the dark arts teacher, professor Lupin"

Not many people besides Harry and the people who had been in the compartment with him cheered very loudly, Professor Lupin looked particularly shabby next to all the other teachers, it was probably putting people off.

Snape was glaring at Lupin darkly with up most loathing, 'there,s probably more to this than meets the eye' Harry thought. He'd made the mistake of thinking Snape was out to get him once, so he was a little more open minded when dealing with the potions bat imitation.

"Also professor Kettleburn has retired from his position as care of magical creatures professor, so as to spend more time with his remaining limbs, the position shall be filled by our very own games keeper, Rubeus Hagrid"

This was met to thunderous applause, particularly from Griffindor.

"We should have known who else would set a biting book" Ron said loudly over the cheering.

"Hey, that book was awesome!" Harry argued whilst the surrounding Griffindors looked at him incredulously.

"Now that that's over with, let the feast begin!"

* * *

The Feast was to an amazing high standard as usual, maybe not particularly healthy but amazing all the same.

Later on as they climbed through the portrait hole, and into the common room, up the stairs and into the very familiar dormitory, Harry felt he was home at long last.

* * *

Harry was in a very good mood when he woke up, after all he was finally back at hogwarts but when they walked into the great hall the next morning, it was obvious that Malfoy was telling the slytherins something that they found really funny, as they walked past he did an impression of a swooning fit.

Harry ignored the sudden rather strong urge to walk over and wipe that broad smile off his face.

* * *

After receiving their timetables, the golden trio walked off to divination, it was at the top of the north tower and by the time they got to class Hermione and Ron were panting and breathing very large gasps of air, Hermione looked like she had a stitch.

"How are you not bothered?" Ron gasped out.

"dunno" Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders, he wasn't out of breath at all.

Then a silver rope ladder fell out of the trapdoor above them, 'well here we go'...

When Harry later walked out of his divination class, he did so with a scowl etched onto his face.

'The grim?, that's ridiculous, sometimes wizards are completely insane!'

As he sat in Transfiguration, he noticed the rest of the class kept shooting furtive glances at him, his scowl deepened and he sat back in his chair.

'Trelawney's just a fraud, I mean yeah, i have seen a big black dog but there are thousands of big black dogs all over the country, at least Hermione's sensible about his whole thing'.

* * *

Even after McGonagall assured the class that Trelawney always predicted someone would die and they never did, Ron still looked worried, Harry gazed at him with just a bit of irritation, he's a good friend but sometimes he's a tad annoying,

'Seriously? the Grimm? The dog of death... Its so stupid, how can a big black dog predict your death?'

He blew a thick lock of dark green hair out of his eyes, huffily.

* * *

Transfiguration seemed to drag on for eternity but eventually they left for lunch.

Harry was very pleased to get out of the castle after lunch, the sky was clear, and there was a light breeze that rustled the grass beneath their feet. He felt great, the wind was ruffling his hair and he could smell the fresh damp grass, it was rather pleasant.

They were on there way to care of magical creatures, he had the monster book underneath his arm. Nai was riding on his shoulder which was were he'd spent his time throughout the school day and would probably continue to do so until it got really cold.

They walked towards Hagrid's hut, on the edge of the forbidden forest, The slytherin's were already there.

"Every'one ere? Good, follow' me I've got something special planned" Hagrid said.

Harry really liked the sound of that, he sincerely hoped it was something cool and maybe just a little dangerous, after all a little risk every now and then, did little harm, and it would distract him from the fainting issue yesterday.

Soon, enough they reached a small paddock, currently it was empty.

"Stand up along the fence, and open yer books" They were told.

"How exactly do we do that?" Snapped Malfoy. Most people looking like they wanted to say the same thing.

"was non of yer able get um open?" Hagrid mumbled, much less confident than before.

"I was Hagrid, you just stroke the spine to get them to be nice" Harry answered immediately, having already opened the book to the contents page.

Hagrid beamed at him.

"Oh, how silly we've all been, _you've got to stroke them, _why didn't we guess?" Malfoy said sarcastically.

"Well i'm willing to bet you didn't think very hard on it, or hadn't ever had a pet to know anything about what animals like, or you just didn't try." Harry snapped, already having had enough of him for one day, he's a person you can only deal with in small doses.

Before they got into a proper argument Hagrid got on with the lesson, ignoring Harry and Malfoy glaring daggers at each other.

* * *

He had no idea why no one else wanted to go near the Hippogriff's at first because quite frankly they are awesome and even better to ride, it was wicked!

Then Malfoy had to go along and ruin it, it was like a train crash waiting to happen...

He heard Malfoy call the Hippogriff a 'great, ugly brute', that is one thing you don't do to a proud creature with large talons. Common sense really.

He saw the Hippogriff rear up and acted, he darted forward and knocked Malfoy behind him, he raised his arms above his head in defence. The Hippogriff's talons slashed downwards and ripped three great gashes in his forearms. Surprisingly it didn't hurt as much as expected.

As Hagrid got the creature to back off, Blood was running freely down his arms and blossoming over his robes, some of the class were screaming and looking at him in panic. He whipped round to face Malfoy who was still sat in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"Are you a complete idiot? you don't insult a creature as proud as a Hippogriff and expect to walk away from it!" Harry snapped as Malfoy got to his feet. Still in shock.

His temper got the better of him and his right fist flew forward and Punched the blond in the chest (he couldn't get his injured arm higher than that), knocking him back a good six feet.

"you've got to go to the hospital wing Harry!" Hermione cried out.

"I'm going, I'm going!" He snapped back as he stormed off towards the castle. Blood dripping on the grass behind him. Hagrid hurried after him, to check he was okay.

'Madam Pomfrey is not going to be happy' Harry thought.

* * *

It was only later he found out he'd accidentally broke Malfoy's collar bone with that punch.

**Hermione's point of view (flash back)**

_she watched as Harry strode up towards the castle with Hagrid trailing behind him, how can he even be standing with those injuries? and how did he move that fast? he was stood right next to me..._

_she suddenly heard a cry of pain, she whipped around, it was Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were attempting to help him up off the ground where he'd landed._

_'how did Harry even knock him that far any way?'_

_Pansy had just run over to him with tears in her eyes, and attempted to hug him, he threw her off roughly. It was then that they noticed his left arm was hanging limp._

_Malfoy moved his robes out of the way, his face was tensed in pain, and looked at his shoulder (she suspected it was just dislocated but then actually saw it)_

_The bone leading from his shoulder was odd shaped, it seemed to be jutting out just underneath his skin, it was sickening... _

_'HOW IN HELLS NAME DID HARRY BREAK HIS COLLAR BONE?' _

_Everyone else seemed to be in various stages of disbelief, shock and disgust (although most of the Griffindors looked rather happy was well), and were all staring silently at Malfoy's arm._

**normal point of view**

Snape took 50 points from Griffindor for that, not that anyone in Griffindor cared about that, they got the pleasure of seeing Malfoy's arm in a sling and knowing a Griffindor put it there.

(besides for shoving Malfoy out of the way of McGonagall gave them 30 points back anyway)

* * *

It was also later that he found out Malfoy's dad was fighting to get the Hippogriff executed for attacking students.

Harry went just a little bit nuts when he found that little fact out, he'd been the injured one and he didn't care at all, yet because it _attempted_ to get Draco his dad was kicking up a fuss, Harry would've given Malfoy more than a broken collarbone (that the little brat was milking to get privileges) if McGonagall hadn't walked in as he was about to break the prick's nose.

* * *

Thing's were actually starting to look up again when they had Professor Lupins first class some days later. Harry was quite looking forward to it.

Then he found out they'd be facing a Boggart which would shape shift into his worst fear. _Damn!_

They were currently in line, waiting for their turn against the thing, all that was going through his head was 'i'm so screwed! how do i make a dementor funny?'

"Riddikulus" he heard Ron shout, the now legless spider rolled across the floor, Lavender Brown jumped out of the way with a high pitched shriek.

It rolled to a stop at his feet, he could see the Professor dart towards him but he wouldn't make it in time, CRACK!

A dementor towered over them all... Dammit! he swore as he felt despair begin to fill up his heart... his vision was growing white, and there was that green light again...

Then Lupin lunged in-front of him, and the Dementor turned into a silver orb, "Riddikulus" Lupin said almost lazily, as Harry recovered.

"Thats all for today, and 5 points to each person who faced the Boggart"

* * *

After the Boggart incident as he called it, time seemed to pass very slowly to Harry, not soon enough and it was Halloween and everyone was a buzz about the first Hogsmeade weekend, he spent most of his time thinking 'Oh god, please shut up!' he knew for a fact that if he was going he'd be as ecstatic as them, but as he wasn't the whole thing was very frustrating.

He spent Halloween (of course not being allowed to go to hogsmeade) talking to Professor Lupin about his Greenman, and how better to take care off it, and then looking up what kind of potion Snape had given the Defence professor just in case Snape had decided to off him. In the library he found out it was Wolfsbane... so Lupin was a werewolf, it was strange that his name was Remus like from that old story about the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus who were raised by wolves, what an odd coincidence... Harry really didn't care about the werewolf thing though, evidently the professor had it under control.

When Ron and Hermione finally got back they went down to the feast. The Hall was decorated with hundreds of lit pumpkins, and a cloud of fluttering bats flew over-head, there was also fiery streamers dancing like snakes across the starry ceiling. There were liberal amounts of sweets on every table and the food was even better than usual but Harry was on edge (had been all day really, he just hadn't noticed it before), was it just because there isn't a very good Halloween track record, or was it something else... his intuition seemed to be on top form recently, so he remained tense throughout the feast.

Nothing seemed wrong though and they walked out of the Hall and nothing had happened.

'Was i wrong?'

It wasn't until they got to the portrait leading to the common room that he realised what had been bothering him, the Fat Lady was gone and the portrait had been ripped to shreds by Sirius Black.

'Will we ever have a normal Halloween?'

* * *

After the Sirius black attack the first Quidditch match was looming ever nearer and the weather had taken a turn for the worse, Howling winds, thunder, lightning and rain became very common, Nai had started to stay in the dormitory and stay away from the weather as much as possible. They were supposed to be up against Slytherin but they had backed out saying Malfoy was still hurt ("Seriously i did not hit him that hard!") and were instead up against Hufflepuff.

The day before the match, Snape had subbed for Lupin (to the disdain of the class) and had dropped some serious hints about Lupin being a Werewolf, surprisingly it seemed nobody actually got what he was hinting at... sometimes people are just stupid (he knew he could be).

* * *

It was finally the day of the match, the weather outside was the worst it had ever been, there was a gale blowing and it was freezing.

They were nearly blown over as soon as they stepped out of the changing rooms. Rain was splattering their faces, Harry had forgone wearing glasses some time ago, according to Madam Pomfrey his eyesight had corrected itself, and he was currently very glad for it, otherwise he'd have no chance of seeing the snitch.

Within 5 minutes of being in the air, he was frozen to the bone and thoroughly soaked.

He started losing track of time a while ago, all he could see were red and canary yellow robes flashing past, it was getting harder and harder to hold his broom straight. There was another clap of thunder followed by more forked lightning, this was getting dangerous-

"Harry! Harry behind you!" he heard Wood yell from the goal posts,

He whipped around, Cedric was going after the snitch, flat against his broom he shot after him, the wind was whipping them but they were nearly neck and neck-

Suddenly he noticed something very strange, an eerie silence was falling over the arena, the wind seemed to forget to roar, it was like he'd suddenly gone deaf (and his hearing had been really good recently) 'what the hell is going on?'

Then he recognised the all too familiar cold washing over him, the despair filling his heart.

Before he'd had time to really think about it, Harry had taken his eyes off the Snitch and looked down.

At least a hundred dementors, their hidden faces pointing up at him, were flying beneath him. It was as though freezing water was rising in his chest, clutching at his insides. And then he heard it again... Someone was screaming, screaming inside his head... a woman...

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now..."

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -"

Numbing, swirling white mist was filling Harry's brain... What was he doing? Why was he flying? He needed to help her... She was going to die... She was going to be murdered...

"Not Harry! Please... have mercy... have mercy...

A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was still screaming, he felt his hands slip from his broom and he toppled sideways.

The wind whipped about him, the Dementors flew towards him, but he saw with unseeing, glazed eyes... the white swarmed into his vision as he fell into blissful unconsciousness...

And then...

He was stood, in the middle of an endless white expanse, all around he looked there was nothing...

'huh?' he said intelligently 'i thought i was on my broom... and i fell... DID I DIE? AM I DEAD?'

Something suddenly caught his eye, he turned round so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash.

There it was again... flickering... it was green (a myriad of ever changing greens, teal, emerald, lime, apple and so many more) it was beautiful...

He reached for it, his fingertips brushed its surface... it was warm, so warm... it filled his heart with hope... he grabbed it with both hands and pulled the orb of light towards him, he basked in its light and hugged it close to his chest.

He felt its warmth fill up his very soul and its light blinded his vision... and he knew no more...

* * *

"Lucky the ground was so soft, and muddy, but still did you see those cracks in the pitch where he'd landed, must have hit the ground hard"

"I thought he was dead for sure"

"Not even a bone broken or even fractured"

"That was the scariest thing i'd seen in all my life"

Scariest... scariest thing... hooded dark cloaks... cold... screaming... warm light...

His eyes snapped open. He was lying in the Hospital wing again, his mud splattered team-mates and Ron and Hermione (who looked liked they'd just swam in the lake) were stood around his bed.

"Harry, how are you feeling?" Fred asked, looking very white underneath all the mud.

He shot up into a sitting position so fast the others all jumped, it was like his memory had fast-forwarded, "What happened?" he asked.

"you fell off your broom-" Fred said "-must've been fifty feet"

"we thought you'd died, you hit the ground so fast" Alicia added, she was shaking.

After getting the rest of the information from his team and they were shooed out by Madam Pomfrey, he sat resting his head on his knees, he lost... They lost.. to Hufflepuff... And chances of them winning the cup were now slim.

"Dumbledore was furious-" Hermione said "- you should have seen him, I'd never seen him so angry... you just sort of hit the ground, mud flew up in the air and the ground cracked in places, that was when dumbledore stormed onto the pitch, the dementors sort of swarmed you and this greenish yellow shield thing surrounded you-" harry looked up sharply when she said that, 'so it wasn't a dream!' "- then Dumbledore waved his wand and shot silver stuff at them and they left immediately, Dumbledore was just so angry..."

"He magicked you onto a stretcher and walked you up to the castle, the whole school thought you'd died" Ron added.

"Did someone get my nimbus?" He said dejectedly, he wasn't expecting good news, if there was a god he liked screwing with him too much for any other kind of news.

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other.

"Just give me the bad news already" he said, his fears confirmed by their expressions.

"Oh harry it hit the whomping willow" Hermione said finally tipping what was left of his faithful broom onto the bed.

He just stared at the pieces blankly.

'Damn dementors!' He thought angrily, suddenly he felt something twitch behind him.

He whipped around, shocking his friends, but there was nothing there.

Getting very suspious, he got up and out of bed, first checking he was fully clothed (he was in plain pyjamas) and secondly checking that Madam Pomfrey wasn't in the room (she must have been in her office) before actually getting up. As he stood (ignoring his friends protests) he felt very off balance, then he heard Ron draw in a shocked gasp and Hermione let out a little Shriek, he turned to them to ask what was up, when he heard something knock that lamp of his bedside table. He turned around again but there wasn't anything there.

Madam Pomfrey came dashing in as she heard the crash, "Mr Potter-" she began getting ready to scold him, but broke off with a little strangled noise as she stared at him.

"What?" He asked completely bewildered.

Ron just pointed behind him.

He looked back, but didn't turn in case he needed to run from what ever had them spooked, and spotted something dark green, covered in very short fur and easily a metre long. It was a bit thinner than his wrist and topped with a thick (as well as extremely large) tuft of fur. The colour seemed to get lighter on the tuft till the top was a dull shade of apple green, he suddenly had an awful thought-

'No it can't be... Its not possible... Its... No... No... It just can't be...'

He turned around a couple of times, it followed him and stuck with him... 'Damn it all to hell!'

'A tail, are you freaking kidding me? A tail... A bloody tail!'

The aforementioned tail lashed in tune with his frustration.

"Okay I want an explanation now!" He snapped.

**And that's it for this chapter I thought it would be a good place to leave it at, so what do you think? I know this chapter was kind of choppy but I don't really see any other way to time skip it.**

**Third year should only cover like two more chapters, three at the most.**

**So thanks for reading, and please review!**

**Oh and by the way, do any of you know what kind of powers besides super strength and controlling all earth demons did amaimon have? I'm pretty much drawing a blank, and I want to know in advance before I get to the point where I have to get creative...**

**XD **


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello again, i want to thank everyone who reviewed, it really is a great help, and lots of thanks on Amaimons powers, the information was greatly appreciated, i think i'm definitely going along with earthbender Amaimon and Harry, alongside of summoning Hobgoblins and other appropriate demons, i might add in controlling plants as well because non of the other demon kings really cover plants, so i assume it falls into the earth king package. **

**i'm still thinking about what animal Harry will be able to turn into... because Amaimon can turn into a hamster, and Mephisto into a little white dog so i'm assuming its a demon thing, and i want harry to have another form, but not really sure on what to give him... oh well we've got a quite a bit of time before that's relevant, but if you've got any ideas i would love to hear them.**

**thanks again for the reviews and enjoy the chapter. XD**

Chapter 4

It was a serious relief to return to school on Monday, he needed a massive distraction, people were thinking that the Weasley twins had pulled a major prank for not winning the match hence the tail, but even Mcgonagall said something that complex as an actual tail was beyond the skill set of two fifth years and they weren't that bothered about the match. As it turned out he was stuck with the tail, so he was now making the best of it.

**flash-back**

_They were still staring and Hermione looked ready to faint._

_"Get a grip! I kinda need some help!" he snapped, and glared murderously at the green tail, when it lashed to match his rather furious sentence._

_He didn't like being so abrupt and snappish with his friends or with the old lady who'd managed to regrow all his forearm bones last year but... he had a TAIL dammit... he seriously needed their support right now._

_Madam Pomfrey was the first one to break out of her shock, she hurried over and began furiously chanting diagnostic spells, whilst the others watched with bated breath. _

_His tail kept twitching, and he was wringing his hands, he was very nervous._

_She looked very worried, "I'm going to try something" she said. She grabbed a hold over the tail, just beneath the tufted tip._

_He immediately froze and tensed, all of his instincts were sending massive warning signals to his brain. He immediately ripped it out of her hand and backed up, keeping it behind him, his green eyes were wary. _

_"just as i feared, non of the spells i tried will get rid of it, it isn't the result of transfiguration or an illusion, and we just proved that we can't just remove it any other way, if he reacted like that then in other words its like a weak spot, there have only been two other cases like this and when St Mungos removed the tails, one died and the other killed three medi-wizards in their panic, even after that they became a squib. They both had the same reaction, we still don't know what caused it." Madam Pomfrey told them "I'm very sorry mister potter, but I am afraid you will just have to learn to live with it" _

**end flashback**

He looked rather odd, that much he did know, his dark emerald green hair was still its usual length at the front and his bangs hadn't changed (besides being straighter) but towards the back his hair had grown quite a lot and some covered the back of his neck, his ears had ever so slightly become a bit pointy and now there was the tail, all 1 metre 20 of it. In his school uniform he looked ridiculous. Dark grey straight leg trousers, white shirt, red and gold tie, black boring school shoes and the big black robe that goes over the top of everything, like a thin dressing gown without a belt. He'd had to put a split in the back of the robe making it more like a jacket with two long coat-tails to give the tail more room, but he didn't have much other choice, the only other choice was wrap the tail around his chest under his clothes, which might hide it but it was incredibly uncomfortable and in a castle full of magic it would be an unnecessary suffering, plus somehow it had got all around the school about the tail before he'd walked out of the hospital wing (he was holding the blame on either the ghosts or the paintings) so even if he hid it there would be no point because everyone knew. They all put it down to a prank gone wrong.

He was absolutely dreading going back to the muggles though, even more than other years, where he'd have to hide his tail pretty much 24/7, he'd have to keep it wrapped around his stomach and he did not like that at all.

* * *

The only bad thing about going back to school was he had to endure Malfoy's taunting, god he hated that boy, he was celebrating having the sling off by doing impressions of Harry falling off his broom and ,of course, dementor impressions. It had been grating on the Griffindors nerves all potions lesson, and Harry's tail was lashing back and forth angrily (he'd accidently whacked Snape a couple of times, who couldn't do anything about it because it was a natural response to anger and Harry had little to no control) Ron had eventually had enough and thrown a potions ingredient at the blond boy, and got fifty points taken from Griffindor for it as well as detention.

After Potions they then walked to Defence against the dark arts, "If Snape's subbing again, i'm going to be ill" Ron declared "check if its Snape"

Hermione peered around the door, "its Lupin" she told them.

As soon as they were all in their seats it was an explosion of complaints about Snape teaching them about werewolves. Lupin informed them that they didn't have to do the homework, to which Hermione said "oh no, I've already done it"

The lesson was about hinkypunk's, they were odd creatures that lured people into bogs.

Overall it was a good lesson and they learnt loads, when the bell rang everyone packed up their bags and left, baring Harry, he stayed behind telling Ron and Hermione to go on.

He had a very successful conversation with Lupin and left feeling a lot lighter than when he walked in, now he had anti-dementor lessons to luck forward to.

* * *

Soon enough there was a buzz of Christmas in the air and frost decorated the grounds, Ron and Hermione had opted to stay at Hogwarts this Christmas, they each said it was to get away from Percy and use the library respectively, but it was obviously to keep him company which he appreciated. He'd been driven to keeping his tail wrapped around his middle, it was so cold in the corridors between classes it was a incredibly unpleasant feeling, he swore he'd seen icicles on the tufted tip the other day.

To everyone's delight baring Harry's there was a Hogsmeade weekend in the last week of term, Ron and Hermione were planning on getting their Christmas shopping done and unfortunately he would be left behind again.

On the appointed Saturday he bid goodbye to Ron and Hermione and started to walk back towards the common room, "Psst- Harry" he heard.

It was Fred and George, curiosity peeked he followed them 'after all curiosity never killed the cat, stupidity framed it' he thought.

When he was handed the Marauders Map he was at first very sceptical, however the scepticism soon turned to awe and gratitude.

And that was how he found himself walking along a thin narrow corridor that was to take him to the cellar of Honey-dukes, it took longer than expected so he broke into a run partway there. Eventually after what seemed like an hour he spotted a trapdoor. He tried to extend his senses into the room, his head flat against the door with his ear pressed up to it, he took a deep breath and concentrated... he could feel vibrations run through the stone from the room above the cellar but nothing closer than that and he didn't hear anything unusual. He carefully eased the trapdoor up and peered out, nothing. He opened the door fully and lifted himself out into a crouched position and silently shut the door.

He stuck to the shadows along the wall just in case, using various crates and boxes to hide. He heard someone coming, he darted behind a large crate nearest to the door and wreathed in shadows, as whoever the bald person was walked past he darted out and silently flitted up the stairs, and around the door.

Once out into the front of the shop, it was so crowded no one paid him any heed whatsoever. He looked around, there was shelves upon shelves of sweets everywhere of every kind imaginable.

"How about these for him?" he heard Ron's voice ask, they were stood around a shelf labelled unusual tastes, Ron had just shoved some cockroach clusters under Hermione's nose.

"Definitely not!" Harry said coming up behind them.

"_Harry!_" Hermione squealed. Ron nearly dropped the jar.

"Wow you learned to Apparate" Ron said awestruck.

"What's that?-" Harry asked "-never mind, anyway" he dropped his voice down so no one else would hear them and informed them of the marauders map.

* * *

After explaining to Hermione that, No he would not be handing the Map in, no matter what hermione said, but he would be very careful with it, they moved on to the Three Broom Sticks.

Once they were inside Harry and Hermione made their way to a table in the back of the room, Ron came back five minutes later with three butterbeers. Harry thought it was one of the best things he'd ever tasted, suddenly a breeze ruffled his hair and blew a thick green lock straight into the middle of his face, the door had opened again.

Stood there in the doorway was professors McGonagall and Flitwick, Hagrid and... Cornelius Fudge, minister of magic.

Harry dived down under the table in a heart beat, whilst Hermione moved a Christmas tree in front of their table.

The party of four professors were soon joined by madam Rosmerta, and they sat around a nearby table.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" came Madam Rosmerta's voice.

he said in a quiet voice, "What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?"

"Do you think Blacks still in the area, Minister?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.

"I'm sure of it," said Fudge shortly.

"You know that the dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said Madam Rosmerta, a slight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away... It's very bad for business, Minister."

"Rosmerta, dear, I don't like them any more than you do," said Fudge uncomfortably. "I've just met some of them. They're in a fury against Dumbledore - he won't let them inside the castle grounds."

"I should think not," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?"

"Hear, hear!" squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick, whose feet were dangling a foot from the ground.

"All the same," demurred Fudge, "they are here to protect you all from something much worse... We all know what Black's capable of..."

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought... I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead."

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," said Fudge gruffly. "The worst he did isn't widely known."

"The worst?" said Madam Rosmerta, her voice alive with curiosity, "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?" "You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," murmured Professor McGonagall. "Do you remember who his-best friend was?"

"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here- ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"

* * *

There was a small chink of glass on wood. Someone had set down their glass.

"You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the headmaster, he'd better head back up to the castle," said Professor McGonagall.

One by one, the pairs of feet in front of Harry took the weight of their owners once more; hems of cloaks swung into sight, and Madam Rosemerta's glittering heels disappeared behind the bar. The door of the Three Broomsticks opened again, and the teachers had disappeared.

"Harry?"

Ron's and Hermione's faces appeared under the table. They were both staring at him, quite horror struck.

* * *

He wasn't quite sure how he got back into the castle, everything seemed to pass him quickly in a rage filled faze, he had never been this angry in his life.

When he'd lain in bed later on that day he'd felt cold hatred replacing his fiery rage, it was a kind of hatred he had never felt before, and it coursed threw him like a poison.

'If I find him, or when he finds me... I WILL KILL HIM!'

* * *

He didn't get to sleep until dawn and subsequently he had slept in till nearly noon.

When he came down into the common room it was empty save for Ron and Hermione.

"Where is everyone?" He asked them.

"Everyone else went home, yesterday was the last day of term remember?" Ron answered. "Its nearly lunchtime, i was about to go wake you"

Harry slumped in a chair besides the fire, Nai who had been sat on a nearby table jumped daintily over and sat on his shoulder.

"you really don't look well harry" Hermione said peering at him curiously.

"i'm fine" he replied with more force in his voice than strictly necessary.

"Harry listen, i know what we heard yesterday must have upset you, but you mustn't do anything stupid" Hermione said after exchanging looks with Ron.

"Like what?" he said, vaguely remembering a similar conversation on the train, as he used his tail to brush that ever irritating lock of hair out of his eyes once again.

"Like trying to go after black!" Ron said sharply.

Harry could tell this was a rehearsed conversation. He sighed in exasperation.

"you won't will you?" Hermione murmured.

"because black isn't worth dying for" Ron said passionately.

Harry sighed again, they really didn't get it. "Do you know what i hear and see every time the dementors come near me?... i hear my mother begging voldemort to kill her instead of me, trying to plead with him to spare me... if you heard that could you honestly say that you wouldn't want to make the person who caused that suffer?"

"There's nothing you can do!" cried Hermione stricken "the dementors will drag him back to azkaban, and that will be the end of it!"

"That isn't good enough!, you heard fudge those things don't effect him as much as other people!" Harry snapped.

"What are you saying? do you want to kill him or something?" Ron said aghast.

"Don't be silly he dosent want to kill anyone, do you harry?" Hermione said, her voice wavering.

Harry didn't answer because that was exactly what he wanted to do, even if he had to do it with his bare hands, Black took everything from him and he wanted revenge.

"Malfoy understood, remember? back in potions that time, he said he'd go after Black-"

"Your going to take _Malfoy's _advice over ours!" said Ron furiously.

Harry ignored them and just stared into the fire, his hatred for Black was still there, bubbling just beneath the surface waiting to be unleashed.

"You know what Pettigrew's mother got back, what was left of her son? a finger that was the biggest part of him they could find... Blacks a madman and he's dangerous" Ron argued.

"Malfoy knew the whole time remember he asked, 'don't you know?'" Harry said ignoring Ron, as calmly as he could whilst discussing Sirius Black.

"and Malfoy'd love to see you blown to pieces" Ron interjected angrily.

"Don't be stupid, Malfoy's the kind of person who talks big but would actually be filled with guilt if he was responsible for someone's death, he might be a Malfoy but he's still a just a teenager not some accomplished seasoned killer" Harry argued.

"Harry please be sensible, think about your parents, they wouldn't want you to go looking for Black!" Hermione said, her eyes shining with tears.

"Well I'll never know what they wanted will I? thanks to Black... besides from what I've heard about my parents, my mum in particular, they'd have gone after him as well"

They went silent after that comment.

"well, why don't we go see Hagrid" Ron suggested weakly.

"Yeah, then we can ask him why he kept the fact that Sirius Black was my godfather a secret" Harry said standing up.

Judging by the look on his face, this was not what Ron had in mind.

* * *

When they got down there, all thoughts of Black vanished from Harry's mind, Hagrid had to attend a hearing for Buckbeak (the Hippogriff) and more than likely the 'dangerous creature' would be executed.

Harry resolved to punch Malfoy senior when he next saw him.

* * *

Pretty much everyday after that their time was spent in the library looking up various laws to try and get Buckbeak of the hook. Harry hadn't forgotten about Black by a long shot but there was nothing he could do at the moment.

On Christmas morning Ron woke him up by a throwing a pillow at him (well several pillows, Harry was a rather heavy sleeper).

"Oy, Presents!" Ron had said, Harry opened a bleary eye and glared at him for a good few minutes before actually moving to get up.

Ron was already ripping the paper off of his presents.

"Another jumper from mum, Maroon again...see if you've got one"

He had, it was scarlet with a griffindor lion on the front, there was also a pocket for Nai, she must have noticed it was one of his favourite places... 'this is going to look terrible with my hair, i'm going to be doing a tomato impression again...oh well its warm' he thought as he shrugged it on along with a long sleeved t-shirt and pair of dark blue jeans.

As he moved his other presents out of the way, He spotted a long thin package.

"What's that?" Ron asked, his usual nosey self.

"no idea" he said as he moved to open the package.

A magnificent broom rolled out and onto the bed. He nearly fell over in shock... there on his bed was a Firebolt.

Identical to the dream broom Harry had gone to see nearly every day in Diagon Alley. Its handle glittered as he picked it up. He could feel it vibrating and let go; it hung in mid-air, unsupported, at exactly the right height for him to mount it. His eyes moved from the golden registration number at the top of the handle, right down to the perfectly smooth, streamlined birch twigs that made up the tail.

"Who sent it to you?" said Ron in a hushed voice.

"Look and see if there's a card," said Harry.

Ron ripped apart the Firebolt's wrappings. "Nothing! Blimey, who'd spend that much on you?"

As soon as Ron said 'nothing', Harry felt dread settle into his stomach... 'couldn't have been, could it?'

At that point Hermione walked in with Crookshanks, who she dropped onto Seamus's bed when she saw the broom.

"Oh, Harry... who sent you that?" she breathed.

"Don't know there wasn't a card" Harry answered, frowning at the broom.

Hermione's face fell, 'apparently she came to the same conclusion i did' Harry thought.

"Hey, Harry can i have a go later?" Ron asked.

"I don't think anyone should ride it just yet" Hermione said shrilly.

"WHAT? WHY?"

"She's right Ron" Harry interjected calmly. Ron looked at him aghast.

* * *

Later, Harry alongside of Hermione handed the broom over to McGonagall, who looked very pleased they'd done something so sensible instead of automatically jumping on the broom like many other Griffindors would. Ron hadn't come with them, he was mad because Crookshanks had tried to kill his rat (again), but when informed of their action he would accuse them of going senile very early on in life.

"Don't worry Potter, after we've checked it out we'll make sure you get it back in one piece." McGonagall assured him, obviously sensing his reluctance to hand the magnificent broom over.

Harry merely nodded.

* * *

At lunch time all three of them went down to the great hall, Nai was riding in his little pocket comfortably, and Ron was still incredulous that they'd handed a broom like the Firebolt over to McGonagall, Flitwick and Hooch to strip it down.

A single table was set instead of the usual five, even less people had stayed than they had first thought, there was only a sullen slytherin fifth year and two very nervous looking first years alongside of the teachers.

"Welcome" Dumbledore said genially as they sat down. "Merry Christmas"

They replied in kind.

"I thought using the house tables would be a waste, considering there were so few of us" Dumbledore explained.

"Tuck in"

Harry's tail wagged happily looking at all the food, it smelled amazing, the sight of the wagging tail made some of the teachers chuckle as he loaded his plate with food, Broom stick for now forgotten.

Then the great hall door opened again. It was Professor Trelawney, gliding toward them as though on wheels. She had put on a green sequinned dress in honour of the occasion, making her look more than ever like a glittering, oversized dragonfly.

"But where is dear Professor Lupin?"

"I'm afraid the poor fellow is ill again," said Dumbledore, indicating that everybody should start serving themselves. "Most unfortunate that it should happen on Christmas Day."

"But surely you already knew that, Sibyll?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyebrows raised. Professor Trelawney gave Professor McGonagall a very cold look.

"Certainly I knew, Minerva,"she said quietly. "But one does not parade the fact that one is All- Knowing. I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous.

"That explains a great deal," said Professor McGonagall tartly. Harry resisted the urge to laugh very loudly, his tail tip twitched from side to side in amusement though, professor McGonagall's lips shifted upwards upon seeing it, 'of course a cat animagi would know what that means' he thought.

Professor Trelawney's voice suddenly became a good deal less misty.

"If you must know, Minerva, I have seen that poor Professor Lupin will not be with us for very long. He seems aware, himself, that his time is short. He positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him -"

"Imagine that," said Professor McGonagall dryly, Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing but his shoulders still shook, the other pupils including the slytherins were in similar states.

"I doubt," said Dumbledore, in a cheerful but slightly raised voice, which put an end to Professor McGonagall and Professor Trelawney's conversation, "that Professor Lupin is in any immediate danger. Severus, you've made the potion for him again?"

"Yes, Headmaster," said Snape.

'Ah, so that's it, what bad luck to fall on Christmas...' Harry thought.

* * *

Ron had thoroughly fallen out with hermione as Crookshanks had made another attempt on Scabbers life, Harry was stuck between the two of them and so had to alternate his time between Ron in the common room and Hermione in the library, still looking for stuff for Buckbeak's case.

Wood sought Harry out on the night before term started. "Had a good Christmas?" he said, and then, without waiting for an answer, he sat down, lowered his voice, and said, "I've been, doing some thinking over Christmas, Harry. After last match, you know. If the dementors come to the next one... I mean... we can't afford you to - well -" Wood broke off, looking awkward.

"The only reason they bother me if because I saw my parents die, they effect people with bad memories worse than other people... and I'm working on it," said Harry calmly, expecting this conversation for some time now, Wood looked even more awkward upon hearing why the dementors go for him. "Professor Lupin said he'd train me to ward off the dementors. We should be starting this week. He said he'd have time after Christmas."

"Ah," said Wood, his expression clearing. "Well, in that case - I really didn't want to lose you as Seeker, Harry- And have you ordered a new broom yet?"

"No," said Harry, ignoring the fact Wood had considered stopping him from being seeker.

"What! You'd better get a move on, you know - you can't ride the school's Shooting Star against Ravenclaw!"

"He got a Firebolt for Christmas," said Ron.

"A Firebolt? No! Seriously? A-a real Firebolt?"

"Don't get excited, Oliver," said Harry instantly, glaring a bit at Ron. "I haven't got it anymore. Me and Hermione handed it to McGonagall." And he explained all about how the Firebolt was now being checked for jinxes.

"Jinxed? How could it be jinxed?"

"Sirius Black" Harry said wearily. "He's supposed to be after me. So we all reckon he might have sent it and McGonagall thought the same."

Waving aside the information that a famous murderer was after his Seeker, Wood said, "But Black couldn't have bought a Firebolt! He's on the run! The whole country's on the lookout for him! How could he just walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a broomstick?"

"yes, but you can mail order them and the Blacks are an old pure-blood family, no one would check who's fault the money was coming from and the goblins just wouldn't care," said Harry patiently, "McGonagall wants to strip it down-"

Wood went pale.

"I'll go and talk to her, Harry," he promised. "I'll make her see reason... A Firebolt... a real Firebolt, on our team... She wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do... I'll make her see sense. A Firebolt..." with that said he walked off.

* * *

Lessons started the next day, and everything went back to normal.

At eight o'clock on Thursday evening, Harry left Gryffindor Tower for the History of Magic classroom. It was dark and empty when he arrived, but he lit the lamps with his wand and had waited only five minutes when Professor Lupin turned up, carrying a large packing case, which he heaved onto Professor Binn's desk.

"What's that?" said Harry.

"Another Boggart," said Lupin, stripping off his cloak. "I've been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch's filing cabinet. It's the nearest we'll get to a real dementor. The Boggart will turn into a dementor when he sees you, so we'll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we're not using him; there's a cupboard under my desk he'll like."

"Okay," said Harry, merely glad that Lupin had found such a good substitute for a real dementor.

"So..." Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Harry should do the same. "The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry - well beyond ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm."

"How does it work?" said Harry nervously.

"Well, when it works correctly, It conjures up a Patronus," said Lupin, "which is a kind of anti-dementor, a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor."

Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid sized figure holding a large sword. Professor Lupin continued, "The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon, hope, happiness, the desire to survive, but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it."

"What does a Patronus look like?" said Harry curiously.

"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it."

"And how do you conjure it?"

"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory."

Harry cast his mind about for a happy memory. Certainly, nothing that had happened to him at the Dursleys' was going to do. He eventually settled on the first time he rode a broom and the exhilaration of it.

After practising with the charm a bit, he moved into the middle of the room. Lupin released the Boggart.

He passed out again shortly after, he woke up on the floor, cold sweat running down his face.

Lupin handed him some more chocolate.

* * *

After picking a different memory he tried again.

"Ready," said Harry; trying hard to fill his head with happy thoughts about Gryffindor winning the house cup, and not dark thoughts about what was going to happen when the box opened.

"Go!" said Lupin, pulling off the lid. The room went icily cold and dark once more. The dementor glided forward, drawing its breath; one rotting hand was extending toward Harry-

"Expecto patronum!" Harry yelled. "Expecto patronum! Expecto Pat-"

White fog obscured his senses... big, blurred shapes were moving around him... then came a new voice, a man's voice, shouting, panicking-

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-"

The sounds of someone stumbling from a room- a door bursting open- a cackle of high-pitched laughter-

"Harry! Harry... wake up..."

Lupin was tapping Harry hard on the face. This time it was a minute before Harry understood why he was lying on a dusty classroom floor.

"Dad..." He choked out, shocking Lupin "stupid fool... didn't even have a wand..." he realised then he was crying.

He sat up and brushed away his tears furiously.

"You heard... James?" asked Lupin in an odd voice.

"Yeah... you knew him?"

"We were friends at school... ready to try again?" Lupin quickly changed the subject.

* * *

This time he was using the memory of being told he was a wizard.

"Ready?" said Lupin, who looked as though he were doing this against his better judgement. "Concentrating hard? All right - go!"

He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the dementor rose out of it; the room fell cold and dark

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry bellowed. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

His vision was whiting out again... There was that green light once more... he drew strength from the feel of that light, unknown to him his eyes had started to glow bright green, with red shining pupils, a faint green-ish yellow light glowed around him...

He lashed his tail, and thought of the day he finally left the Dursley's for the wizarding world, as he howled, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A huge silver shadow exploded from the end of his wand, and held the dementor at bay, but he didn't know for how long, his knees felt weak but he held strong.

Lupin lunged in front of him, trying to ignore what had just happened with harry, "Riddikulus!".

Harry sat down heavily on the floor, the light had disappeared...

'It can't be... were we right about James all those years ago?' Lupin wondered staring at Harry.

* * *

January faded into February, Wood had upped the amount of Quidditch practices and that alongside of Lupins Dementor lessons and all their homework was taking its toll on Harry, he was usually seen with very dark bags under his eyes.

Wood had failed at getting the Firebolt back from Mcgonagall as Harry knew he would do.

His dementor lesson's were not going as well as expected, he figured it was an issue with the memory but he didn't really have a happier one to use.

It was one of these lessons where he found out about the dementors kiss, and he left feeling very disgusted.

Harry half wished that he hadn't asked what was under a dementor's hood, the answer had been so horrible, and he was so lost in unpleasant thoughts of what it would feel like to have your soul sucked out of you that he walked headlong into Professor McGonagall halfway up the stairs.

"Do watch where you're going, Potter!"

"Sorry, Professor-"

"I've just been looking for you in the Gryffindor common room, Well, here it is, we've done everything we could think of, and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it at all. You've got a very good friend somewhere, Potter..."

Harry's jaw dropped. She was holding out his Firebolt, and it looked as magnificent as ever.

"I can have it back?" Harry said weakly. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually smiling. "I daresay you'll need to get the feel of it before Saturday's match, won't you? And Potter, do try and win, won't you? Or we'll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night..."

"I will professor!" he swore passionately, his tail wagging back and forth with excitement, Professor McGonagall just smiled broadly at him.

* * *

He was in the common room later that day, when a strangled yell echoed down the boys' staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder - and then Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bed-sheet.

"LOOK!" he bellowed, striding over to Hermione's table. "LOOK!" he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face.

"Ron, what-?"

"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!"

Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly bewildered. Harry looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked a lot like-

"BLOOD!" Ron yelled into the stunned silence. "HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

"N-no," said Hermione in a trembling voice.

Ron threw something down onto Hermione's rune translation. Hermione and Harry leaned forward. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs.

* * *

It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship and Harry was stuck uncomfortably between them again, and quite frankly it bothered Harry how much Ron was bothered about the rat with the amount of complaining he'd done about the thing, it also bothered him that Ron was letting it get between their friendship.

"Ron! it is a cat, it eats mice and rats and it isn't Hermione's fault that a cat is a predator!" he yelled at Ron one night in the middle of another argument about the damn rat, because he might have thought that the cat did kill Scabbers but he didn't believe it was Hermione's fault, because after all a cat will act like a cat and nothing else.

Ron had looked at him shocked before storming up the stairs to the boys dormitory, Harry glared after him, because then he'd had a very upset Hermione crying into his chest as she clutched at his robes.

* * *

On the morning of the Match against Ravenclaw, he walked downstairs with the rest of the team who had seemingly decided that the Firebolt deserved a Guard of Honour.

At a quarter past eleven they walked down to the changing rooms. It was a bright, clear day with blue skies.

They walked onto the pitch to furious applause, even Nai had travelled down with Hermione to watch, Harry had his wand underneath his robes, he only hoped he wouldn't need it.

They were soon in the air. He started looking for the snitch immediately, a couple of times he avoided a bludger with ease, it had been one such bludger that forced him to veer of course allowing the snitch to escape for the first time.

* * *

"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn, Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision, balance is really noticeable in these long-"

"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"

Harry laughed at that, before scanning the field frantically- a glint of gold, a flutter of tiny wings- the Snitch was circling the Gryffindor goal post-

Harry accelerated, eyes fixed on the speck of gold ahead- but just then, Cho appeared out of thin air, blocking him-

"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!" Wood roared as Harry swerved to avoid a collision. "KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!"

Harry turned and caught sight of Cho; she was grinning, Harry narrowed his eyes. The Snitch had vanished again. Harry turned his Firebolt upward and was soon twenty feet above the game.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cho following him... She'd decided to mark him rather than search for the Snitch herself... All right, then... if she wanted to tail

him, she'd have to take the consequences he smirked.

He dived again, and Cho tried to follow; Harry pulled out of the dive very sharply; as she hurtled downward; he rose fast as a bullet once more, and then saw it, the Snitch was glittering way above the field at the Ravenclaw end.

He accelerated; so, many feet below, did Cho. He was winning, gaining on the Snitch with every second, then-

Cho screamed, pointing at something as did quite a number of spectators.

Distracted, Harry looked down. Three tall, black, hooded dementors, were looking up at him.

He didn't stop to think. Plunging a hand down the neck of his robes, he whipped out his wand and roared with all his might, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A large silver roundish shape irrupted from his wand, He knew it had shot directly at the dementors but didn't pause to watch; his mind still clear for once, he looked ahead, he was nearly there. He stretched out the hand still grasping his wand and just managed to close his fingers over the small, struggling Snitch.

* * *

Madam Hooch's whistle sounded. Harry turned around in mid-air and saw six scarlet blurs bearing down on him; next moment, the whole team was hugging him so hard he was nearly pulled off his broom. Down below he could hear the roars of the Gryffindors in the crowd.

"That's my boy!" Wood kept yelling. Alicia, Angelina, and Katie had all kissed Harry, leaving him rather dazed and red (once again doing a credible impression of a certain red fruit); Fred had him in a grip so tight Harry felt as though his head would come off.

In complete disarray, the team managed to make its way back to the ground. Harry got off his broom and looked up to see a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the field, Ron in the lead. Before he knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd.

Nai leapt off Hermione's shoulder. "Naaaaaaaaaaaai" It screeched as it lunged at him, he just laughed as it grabbed his robes.

* * *

Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken and pleased. "The dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry said excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!"

"That would be because they...er... weren't dementors," said Professor Lupin. "Come and see" he added when Harry had looked bewildered.

He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field. "You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright," said Lupin.

Harry stared. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Malfoy had been sat on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall.

"An unworthy trick!" she was shouting. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"

If anything could have set the seal on Gryffindor's victory, it was this. Ron, who had fought his way through to Harry's side, doubled up with laughter as they watched Malfoy fighting to extricate himself from the robe, Goyle's head still stuck inside it. Harry had stared for a few more seconds, before bursting out with laughter, his tail wagging furiously, and he had soon toppled over and was rolling on the ground barely able to breathe, McGonagall looked back at him amusedly.

"Come on, Harry!" said George, fighting his way over and picking him up off the floor. "Party! Gryffindor common room, now!"

"Right," said Harry, and feeling happier than he had in ages, he and the rest of the team led the way, still in their scarlet robes.

* * *

**Next chapter we'll probably get up to the start of the Sirius Black stuff and leave the Time-turner to the chapter after it.**

**Thanks for the favourites, Follows and reviews! and thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello again, Thanks for all the support guys! **

**Right, to answer some review questions, yes harry will kinda go to the exorcist school but it will only be during most of the summer because of course everyone would panick if the "boy-who-lived" didn't return to Hogwarts, and dumbles forces him to stay at the dursleys for at least two weeks, I'm not sure how the Japanese work their school holidays so I'm not sure whether it would just be harry (like having special classes) or whether the whole lot of potential exorcists would be there, but I do know the exorcist class from the actual series will of course be grown up and will be instructors. Also I really like the idea someone came up with about amaimons skills, I really like the whole senju hashirama of blue exorcist, so that's what powers he'll have alongside of earthbending, so all in all him and harry are going to be pretty awesome.**

** Also this story is going to be mostly canon up until the war with voldemort that will be pretty different in key aspects and ya know the little epilogue thing at the end of the last harry potter book it is definitely not going to go down like that, mainly because I really didn't like ending especially because of how manipulative dumbledore was and when harry found out he still named his son after the guy, it just really bugged me...**

**Yeah, harry will make more friends, especially with Luna and Neville and people like that, but also with the kids of the exwires from the actual blue exorcist series.**

**I really liked the two animal form idea so i'm going with it, I'm still undecided but I might give him an animagi form of either a king cobra or a black mamba because of course he was supposed to be a slytherin and Rons reaction will he pretty funny, but his demon animal form I'm thinking some kind of wolf (either a maned wolf or a grey wolf) or a big cat (either a snow leopard, a black painter or a kind of tiger) even if I do decide for sure I'll leave it as a surprise anyway. Oh, and amaimon will still be able to turn into the stag too because the hamster just isn't cool. **

**So... That's it for questions so far... And sorry I kinda rambled on a bit...**

**Oh, and one more thing, i'm going to mix the manga in with the anime, because the ending of the anime was just awesome but when i read the manga i was disappointed that they didn't include the stuff with the impure king in the actual anime, so when the blue exorcist stuff is mentioned the impure king will have been after the end of the anime but i'm not going to include the stuff with the illuminati because that really messed with my head that shima was suddenly incredibly awesome, and a traitor, plus that stuff isn't really over yet (i think, i haven't read any of the on-line chapters in ages and I've only got manga up to book 11) so yeah, other than that the story will be pretty much the same. **

**Anyway feel free to keep asking questions, I don't really think things through so all the questions are really helping me keep the story going where I want it to. Unlike my other story where I know where I want it to go but I'm having trouble getting it there.**

**So thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites! **

**Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 5

It was like Griffindor had already won the Quidditch cup the amount of partying they did, but one person wasn't joining in on the festivities.

Hermione was sat in a corner, with a massive book. Harry sighed and walked over to her.

"you should get involved you know? give studying a break for one night"

"I can't! I still have 422 pages to read by Monday!" she said sounding slightly hysterical. "besides _he_ dosent want me to join in" she added in a small voice.

There was no arguing with this, as Ron chose that moment to say loudly, "If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of those Fudge Flies. He used to really like them"

She burst into tears and grabbed her book and headed straight for the stairs that lead to the girls dormitory's, he quickly cut her off and grabbed her lightly by the shoulders.

"Ignore him he's just being a prat... but seriously Hermione, him acting like that on top of all your work is really stressing you out, and don't say your not stressed! its obvious and if you don't take a break I'll get Madam Pomfrey involved because your going to make yourself ill!... and don't look at me like that! i'm not letting you up those stairs unless you promise me your'll take a break"

"I don't need a break i'm fine!" she argued.

"Hermione you are not fine, i'm your best friend, and Ron might not care right now but i do, you are making yourself ill! and you need to take a break!" He said looking her directly in her eyes.

"okay, okay... i promise I'll take a break tonight" she said eventually.

"Good" he said, before briefly pulling her into a hug.

When he'd released her she walked up the stairs and out of sight.

"Can't you give her a break?" Harry asked Ron quietly.

"No," said Ron flatly. "If she just acted like she was sorry, but she'll never admit she's wrong, Hermione. She's still acting like Scabbers has gone on vacation or something."

The Gryffindor party ended only when Professor McGonagall turned up in her tartan dressing gown at one in the morning, to insist that they all go to bed. At last, exhausted, Harry climbed into bed, twitched the hangings of his four-poster shut to block out a ray of moonlight, lay back, and felt himself almost instantly drifting off to sleep...

"AAARRGGHH! NOOO!"

Harry woke as suddenly as though he'd been hit in the face. Seamus Finnigan's voice from the other side of the room: "What's going on?"

Harry thought he heard the dormitory door slam. At last finding the divide in his curtains, he ripped them back, and at the same moment, Dean Thomas lit his lamp.

Ron was sitting up in bed, the hangings torn from one side, a look of utmost terror on his face.

"Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!"

"What?"

"Here! Just now! Slashed the curtains! Woke me up!"

"You sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?" said Dean.

"Look at the curtains! I tell you, he was here!"

They all scrambled out of bed; Harry reached the dormitory door first he felt his hatred for that man welling up again, it spurned him on, and they sprinted back down the staircase. Doors opened behind them, and sleepy voices called after them.

"Who shouted?"

"What're you doing?"

Harry jumped the last six steps into the common room, it was lit with the glow of the dying fire, still littered with the debris from the party. It was deserted. He clenched his fists angrily, 'must've missed him!'

"What's all the noise?"

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!"

A few of the girls had come down their staircase, pulling or, dressing gowns and yawning. Boys, too, were reappearing.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" said Fred Weasley brightly.

"Everyone back upstairs!" said Percy.

"Percy, Sirius Black!" said Ron faintly. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" The common room went very still.

"Nonsense!" said Percy, looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron, had a nightmare-"

"I'm telling you-"

"Now, really, enough's enough!" Professor McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the common room and stared furiously around.  
"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" said Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare-"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!" Professor McGonagall stared at him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask him!" said Ron, pointing a shaking finger at the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. "Ask him if he saw-"

Glaring suspiciously at Ron, Professor McGonagall pushed the Portrait back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with bated breath. "Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!" cried Sir Cadogan.

There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room.

"You-you did?" said Professor McGonagall. "But-but the password!"

"He had 'em!" said Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk. "Which person," she said, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"  
There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.

* * *

No one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They knew that the castle was being searched again, and the whole House stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. Professor McGonagall came back at dawn, to tell them that he had again escaped.

Throughout the day, everywhere they went they saw signs of tighter security; Professor Flitwick could be seen teaching the front doors to recognize a large picture of Sirius Black; Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. Sir Cadogan had been fired. His portrait had been taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She had been expertly restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had agreed to return to her job only on condition that she was given extra protection. A bunch of surly security trolls had been hired to guard her. They paced the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and comparing the size of their clubs. Oddly enough they seemed extremely wary of Harry, always glancing at him out of the corner of there eyes and edging away slightly when he walked past, it left Harry feeling very confused.

Neville was in total disgrace. No one would give him a password he always had to wait with the trolls for someone else to let him in and he was banned from hogsmeade visits, But what was even worse was two days after the black incident he received a howler from his grandmother.

It exploded in the great hall, and his grandmothers magically amplified voice echoed around the school, screeching about how he'd shamed their whole family. The slytherins burst into laughter. Harry just glared at the spot where the letter had been, 'really? telling him he'd shamed the family, yeah that's the thing you send to someone like Neville who has confidence issues'

He reached over and patted a teary eyed Neville on the shoulder, "Forget it Neville, everyone makes mistakes and your only a kid like the rest of us, mistakes are for learning from after all, you haven't shamed your family just because you made a mistake, your family just expects too much from you sometimes... as i said we're all just kids aren't we? we're always doing stupid things and will probably continue to do so for a long time before we finally grow up"

Neville looked at him gratefully, and smiled a bit. Hermione and a couple of others looked surprised Harry could actually say something so wise.

* * *

They visited Hagrid later that day, he lectured Ron about Hermione and said it was a good thing that she still had Harry or she'd have broken down a lot more than she had done. Ron looked uncomfortable but didn't sway from his position on the rat matter.

When they got back to the common room, there was a notice up about the next Hogsmeade visit.

"What'd you reckon?" Ron asked Harry.

Before Harry could respond, Hermione said "Harry if you go to Hogsmeade again... I'll tell McGonagall about the map"

"Can you hear someone talking Harry?" Ron growled.

Harry whacked him around the back of the head... Hard. "Lay off her for once Ron!" he sighed, he was really getting sick of this.

"And you've got nothing to worry about Hermione, i'm not going this time, i pushed my luck enough as it was... Can you bring me some sweets back Ron? I'll give you some money to get some"

Ron just looked at him shocked.

* * *

On the day of the Hogsmeade visit, Harry spent it in the Library with Neville who of course couldn't go either, they were working on an essay about Vampire's for Professor Lupin.

It was later that day when Harry was walking back to the Common Room on his own (him and Neville had originally gone back together and played exploding snap but Harry had had to go back to library, having left the essay there by mistake) he was just checking the Marauders Map to see if Hermione, Ron and the others were back inside the castle yet when he'd walked right into Lupin, who had stared at the Map in shock.

"I don't want to hear explanations," said Lupin shortly. He glanced around the empty corridor and lowered his voice. "I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago," he said. "I don't want to know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, astounded that you didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back, Harry."

Harry had expected that and merely nodded.

* * *

Hermione met up with Him and Ron after dinner that day, she told them that Hagrid had lost the case for Buckbeak.

There was an upside though, Ron and Hermione were friends again which was a big relief to Harry.

* * *

They didn't get a chance to talk to Hagrid until their care of Magical creatures lesson. Hagrid had resigned himself to Buckbeak's fate and was just set on making his last few days enjoyable, but he was still teary eyed.

When they were walking back up to the castle, they heard Malfoy say: "Look at him Blubber, have you ever seen anything so pathetic?"

Harry and Ron both made furious moves toward Malfoy, Harry had long since deduced that his thing with Malfoy wasn't true Hatred it was just very strong dislike and Malfoy might think they were but they were not true enemies (this revelation had come from the cold burning hatred he felt for Sirius Black) but that didn't stop him from wanting to break the boys teeth,

But Hermione got there before either of the boys- SMACK!

She had slapped Malfoy across the face with all the strength she could muster. Malfoy staggered. Harry, Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle stood flabbergasted as Hermione raised her hand again.

"Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul, you evil-"

"Hermione!" said Ron weakly, and he tried to grab her arm as she swung it back.

"Get off, Ron!"

Hermione pulled out her wand. Malfoy stepped backward. Crabbe and Goyle looked at him for instructions, thoroughly bewildered.

"C'mon," Malfoy muttered his cheek imprinted with a bright red hand print, and in a moment, all three of them had disappeared into the passageway to the dungeons.

"Hermione!" Ron said again, sounding both stunned and impressed.

"Harry, you'd better beat him in the Quidditch final!" Hermione said shrilly. "You just better had, because I can't stand it if Slytherin wins!"

Harry just nodded.

* * *

As it turned out Hermione was having a really bad day, she forgot to go to charms and in Divination Trelawney said she had a 'hopelessly mundane mind'.

Harry had glared furiously at Trelawney as Hermione had finally had enough and stormed out. Quite frankly Harry had as well, all their _teacher _ever did was predict his death and spout ridiculous nonsense. It was a total waste of time.

He stood up suddenly drawing all eyes to him, his eyes were practically luminous, and he kicked their table over in his fury.

"I've Had enough! you are a fraud and i'm sick of you predicting all the horrible ways i'm _supposedly going to die_!" with that said he stormed after Hermione. Leaping straight down from the classroom, not bothering with the ladder, as the whole class stared after him in shock.

* * *

When he went to Mcgonagall to say he was dropping divination she seemed proud and tried to hide her smile, but suggested that over the summer he learn either Ancient Runes or Arithmancy, so he can join the other fourth years as he had to have three electives at least. He settled on Arithmancy and McGonagall gave him a spare book.

When he told Hermione she seemed really pleased he'd be joining her class next year, and gave him a big smothering hug.

* * *

The Easter Holidays soon started, but with the amount of homework they had it didn't seem like much of a Holiday, Hermione was very nearly cracking under the pressure and it was only Harry who she'd listen to when told she needed a break.

Quidditch practices were taking up a lot of time and Harry was struggling through his homework because of it.

Slytherin had 200 points so they had to win by more than that or they would lose the cup.

Oliver had practically started to stalk him, it was very creepy (How does he know where i am 24/7?) , "So you must catch it only if we're more than fifty points up," Wood told Harry constantly. "Only if we're more than fifty points up, Harry, or we win the match but lose the Cup. You've got that, Haven't you? You must catch the Snitch only if we're-"

"I KNOW, OLIVER!" Harry yelled, as the castle shook slightly in its foundations, and the banister he'd gripped in irritation cracked and shattered.

By the end of the Easter holidays tension was at its peak between the Slytherins and the Griffindors. Fights were breaking out all over the place and Wood had to set a guard for Harry because people kept trying to trip him up (going down stairs) and after Crabbe and Goyle had cornered him one day, they thought it was better to be on the safe side.

**Flashback**

_Harry was walking sedately around the corner of a hallway just before the entrance hall, it was pretty much empty everyone was already in the great hall for dinner except two Hufflepuff first years across from him._

_Crabbe and Goyle lunged out of an alcove and grabbed him by the arms, and attempted to drag him off, but harry planted his feet and flipped them over his head, they hit the ground with a sickening crack._

_The Hufflepuffs ran to get a teacher._

_Crabbe was back on his feet first and attempted to swing at him, Harry caught the fist and kneed him in the stomach. knocking the hulking boy to the ground._

_The teachers came running just as Goyle got back up and whipped out his wand, he was too slow, Harry punched him straight in the face and knocked him down._

_'for once Dudley and his gang has actually taught me something' harry thought, breathing heavily._

_Everyone just stared in shock, Snape included._

_The best part was it actually was classed as self defence, so Harry walked off unpunished._

**end flashback **

The whole school was going to watch this match, and it had everyone on edge, Griffindor hadn't won the cup since Charlie Weasley had been their seeker and it was mainly circumstance that had kept them from the Cup the previous years.

Everyone baring the Slytherins wanted to see the Cup change hands for once, the match was promising to be a good one...

* * *

It was finally the day of the Match, everyone was incredibly nervous, Wood kept urging the team to eat that the morning but he touched nothing himself.

When the teams were finally on the pitch and the match was about to start, Flint and Wood attempted to break each others hands in their customary handshake.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle.

'here we go!' Harry thought as he shot into the air.

* * *

Angelina scored the first goal, it was 10-0 in Griffindor's favour, then Flint attempted to knock her off her broom saying he didn't see her, Fred whacked him in the back of the head with his bat for that.

it was a penalty for both sides and Angelina scored again, whilst flints was blocked. "20-0, GRIFFINDOR!"

After another deliberate attack to Alicia, there was another penalty and then it was 30-0.

Harry saw the snitch but led Malfoy in the opposite direction, the slytherin beaters targeted him immediately.

WHOOSH. One of the Bludgers came streaking past Harry's right ear, hit by the gigantic Slytherin Beater, Derrick. Then again WHOOSH. The second Bludger grazed Harry's elbow. The other Beater, Bole, was closing in.

Harry had a fleeting glimpse of Bole and Derrick zooming toward him, clubs raised.

He turned the Firebolt upward at the last second, and Bole and Derrick collided with a sickening crunch.

"Ha haaa!" yelled Lee Jordan as the Slytherin Beaters lurched away from each other, clutching their heads. "Too bad, boys! You'll need to get up earlier than that to beat a Firebolt.

His trick had worked, Malfoy never saw the snitch.

Flint had the quaffle, and he scored. 30-10.

It had turned into the dirtiest game Harry had ever played in. The slytherins were resorting to any means necessary to stop Griffindor, elbows were being used to knock people off course, and people were being whacked all over the place by beaters bats.

After two more penalty's, one saved, the score was 40-10.

Katie scored, it was 50-10. In retaliation the slytherin beaters whacked two bludgers at Wood, winding him.

Madam Hooch was beside herself, "YOU DO NOT ATTACK THE KEEPER UNLESS THE QUAFFLE IS WITHIN THE SCORING AREA!" she shrieked.

It was another two penalties, Wood saved one, it was 50-10 and then Alicia seized the quaffle and made the score 60-10.

Harry saw the snitch and darted towards it, but Malfoy had grabbed the back of his broom, and it disappeared.

"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics." Madam Hooch screeched, shooting up to where Malfoy was sliding back onto his Nimbus Two Thousand and One.

"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" Lee Jordan was howling into the megaphone, dancing out of Professor McGonagall's reach. "YOU FILTHY, CHEATING B-"

Professor McGonagall didn't even bother to tell him off She was actually shaking her fist in Malfoys direction, her hat had fallen off, and she too was shouting furiously.

Alicia took Gryffindor's penalty, but she was so angry she missed by several feet. The Gryffindor team was losing concentration and the Slytherins, delighted by Malfoy's foul on Harry, were being spurred on to greater heights.

Montague scored, 70-20.

Angelina had the quaffle, but all slytherins except the keeper was racing towards her to block.

Harry glared furiously at them and shot like a bullet towards them on his Firebolt. They scattered, and Angelina scored. 80-20 in Griffindors favour.

And then he saw something to make his heart stand still. Malfoy was diving, a look of triumph on his face... there, a few feet above the grass below, was a tiny, golden glimmer-

Harry urged the Firebolt downward, but Malfoy was miles ahead, "Go! Go! Go!" Harry urged his broom. He was gaining on Malfoy, Harry flattened himself to the broom handle as Bole sent a Bludger at him, he was at Malfoy's ankles, he was level-

Harry threw himself forward, took both hands off his broom. He knocked Malfoy's arm out of the way and-

"YES!"

He pulled out of his dive, his hand in the air, and the stadium exploded. Harry soared above the crowd, an odd ringing in his ears. The tiny golden ball was held tight in his fist, beating its wings hopelessly against his fingers.

Then Wood was speeding toward him, half-blinded by tears; he seized Harry around the neck and sobbed unrestrainedly into his shoulder. Harry felt two large thumps as Fred and George hit them; then Angelina's, Alicia's, and Katie's voices, "We've won the Cup! We've won the Cup!" Tangled together in a many-armed hug, the Gryffindor team sank, yelling hoarsely, back to earth.

As Harry watched all of Griffindors supporters spill out onto the pitch, Harry felt that if there was a dementor he'd be able to make the worlds strongest Patronus.

* * *

The Griffindor euphoria lasted a full week but then the exams were upon them.

Their second to last exam, on Thursday morning, was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin had compiled the most unusual exam any of them had ever taken; a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new boggart.

"Excellent, Harry," Lupin muttered as Harry climbed out of the trunk, grinning. "Full marks."

* * *

It was later that day when he was walking down to dinner, he came across Trelawney, they mainly ignored each other obviously remembering how Harry last walked out of divination, but then-

"THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE MIDNIGHT... THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANTS AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN HE EVER WAS. TONIGHT... BEFORE MIDNIGHT... THE SERVANT... WILL SET OUT... TO REJOIN... HIS MASTER..."

Harry had whipped round to stare at her, his jaw dropped open.

she seemed to re-animate...

"I'm so sorry, dear boy," she said dreamily, "the heat of the day, you know... I drifted off for a moment..."

Harry turned around carefully and walked away with haste.

* * *

He was about to tell Ron and Hermione about Trelawney's prediction but shut his mouth when he saw their faces.

"Hagrid lost the Appeal" they told him.

"We're going to see him" Harry announced with out hesitation.

When they got there the look of helplessness on Hagrids face was worse to watch than when he'd cried on Harry's shoulder.

They'd manage to find Scabbers in one of the cups in Hagrids hut, But had to leave soon after because Dumbledore, Fudge, the feeble old Committee member and Macinar had started to walk down towards the hut.

They weren't far enough away to not hear the thud of the axe, "they did it, they actually did it..." Hermione muttered, burying he head in Harry's chest.

* * *

They made to walk back up to the castle, but Scabbers was writhing in Ron's grip.

"He won't stay still!"

"Ron we need to go! Dumbledore will be up here any minute."

"Ron!"

The rat had slipped between Ron's clutching fingers, hit the ground, and scampered away. In one bound, Crookshanks sprang after him, and before Harry or Hermione could stop him, Ron had thrown the Invisibility Cloak off himself and pelted away into the darkness.

They ran after him.

Harry and Hermione almost fell over Ron; they skidded to a stop right in front of him. He was sprawled on the ground, but Scabbers was back in his pocket; he had both hands held tight over the quivering lump.

But before they could cover themselves again, before they could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws... Something was bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow, an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog.

It leaped at Harry, its paws hit his chest they fell backwards, but the dog rolled off him.

Ron was on his feet. As the dog sprang back toward them he pushed Harry aside; the dog's jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm. Harry lunged forward, he seized a handful of the brute's hair, but it was dragging Ron away as easily as though he were a rag doll-

Then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face he was knocked off his feet again. He heard Hermione shriek with pain and fall too.

It was the weeping willow, Hermione had a gash across her shoulder too, "Ron!" Harry shouted, trying to follow, but a heavy branch whipped lethally through the air and he was forced backward again.

All they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the dog from pulling him farther underground, but a horrible crack cut the air like a gunshot; Ron's leg had broken, and a moment later, his foot vanished from sight.

* * *

"We need to go after them, that things big enough to eat him!"

Harry darted forward and Narrowly avoided being whacked a couple of time before being forced to dive to the ground.

Hermione teetered on one spot uncertainly, "we need, oh... help, help"

Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk. Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook.

"How'd he-" Hermione started.

"He's friends with the dog, I've seen them together" Harry said as he got up of the grassy floor.

They covered the distance to the trunk in seconds, but before they had reached the gap in the roots, Crookshanks had slid into it with a flick of his bottle-brush tail. Harry went next; he crawled forward, head-first, and slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel. Seconds later, Hermione slid down beside him.

"Where's Ron?" she whispered in a terrified voice.

"This way," said Harry, setting off, crouched, after Crookshanks.

* * *

Eventually they came out into a room, it was disordered and dusty, there were huge scratches all over the walls and furniture was broken and strewn over the floor.

"Harry, i think we're in the shrieking shack" She whispered.

He nodded. Just then there was a creak upstairs. Quietly as they could they crept out into the hall and up the crumbling staircase, they kept low to the ground. They ended up in a dark landing and they put out their wands. Only one door was open. As they crept toward it, they heard movement from behind it. They exchanged a last nod.

Wand held tightly before him, Harry kicked the door wide open.

On a four-poster bed with dusty hangings lay Crookshanks, purring loudly at the sight of them. On the floor beside him, clutching his leg, which stuck out at a strange angle, was Ron.

They ran over. "Ron where's the dog?"

"Not a dog... its him... he's an animagus" Ron shouted, pointing behind them.

Harry whipped around. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them. A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius Black.

"Expelliarmus!"he croaked, pointing Ron's wand and then at them. Harry's and Hermione's wands shot out of their hands, high in the air, and Black caught them. Then he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry.

"I thought you'd come and help your friend," he said hoarsely, His voice sounded as though he had long since lost the habit of using it. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful... it will make everything much easier..."

"If you want to kill him you'll have to kill us too!" Ron shouted, struggling to stand.

"You should lie down before you damage that leg further" Black said quietly.

"Did you hear me?" Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. "You'll have to kill all three of us!"

"There'll be only one murder here tonight," said Black, and his grin widened.

"Why's that?" Harry spat, trying to wrench himself free of Ron, and Hermione. "Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew... What's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?"

"Harry!" Hermione whimpered. "Be quiet!"

"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry roared, and with a huge effort he broke free of Hermione's and Ron's restrain.

He lunged forward and maybe it was because Harry caught him off guard but Black didn't do anything, Harry pinned him to the wall, his pupils glowing a malicious red surrounded by cyan and emerald orbs. Black was fighting in his grip but Harry didn't budge, Harry wrenched the wand out of his grip and leapt backwards as Blacks hand went for his throat.

Black was sprawled at the bottom of the wall. His thin chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched Harry walking slowly nearer again, his wand pointing straight at Black's heart. Tail lashing furiously.

"Going to kill me, Harry?" he whispered.

"You killed my parents!" Harry growled out.

Black stared at him with those sunken eyes surrounded by dark insomniac shadows, he flinched as he looked up at those glowing eyes. "I don't deny that... but you need to know the full story... you need to understand-"

"I know all i need to, you betrayed them to Voldemort... ITS YOUR FAULT THEY DIED!" Harry shouted.

Muffled footsteps were echoing up through the floor- someone was moving downstairs. "WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione screamed suddenly. "WE'RE UP HERE- SIRIUS BLACK- QUICK!"

The door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and Harry wheeled around as Professor Lupin came hurtling into the room, his wand raised and ready. His eyes flickered over Ron, lying on the floor, over to Hermione, cowering next to the door, to Harry, standing there with his wand covering Black, and then to Black himself, crumpled at Harry's feet.

"Expelliarmus!" Lupin shouted. Harry's wand flew once more out of his hand; so did the two Hermione was holding. Lupin caught them all deftly, then moved into the room, staring at Black.

"Where is he Sirius?" Lupin said. Black pointed at Ron.

"But then..." Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, "... why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless" Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Black, something none of the rest could see, "-unless he was the one... unless you switched... without telling me?"

Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face, Black nodded.

What happened next nearly dropped Harry's jaw, Lupin and Black embraced like brothers.

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU" Hermione screeched -"Hermione listen" Lupin began- "NO, I'VE BEEN COVERING FOR YOU ALL YEAR! HARRY DON'T TRUST HIM, HE'S A WEREWOLF" she continued.

"I know i saw him drink wolfsbane right in-front of me, that's got nothing to do with this however" Harry said relatively calmly as he glared at lupin with those luminous eyes.

Lupin turned to Hermione and said, "How long have you known?"

"Ages," Hermione whispered. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay..."

"He'll be delighted," said Lupin coolly. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant... Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"

"Both," Hermione said quietly.

Lupin forced a laugh. "You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."

"I'm not," Hermione whispered. "If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!"

"But they already know," said Lupin. "At least, the staff do."

"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf. Ron gasped. "Is he mad?"

"Some of the staff thought so," said Lupin. "He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy-"

"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!" He was pointing at Black, who suddenly crossed to the four-poster bed and sank onto it, his face hidden in one shaking hand. Crookshanks leapt up beside him and stepped onto his lap, purring. Ron edged away from both of them, dragging his leg.

Harry felt betrayed, his anger was burning inside of him, the ground surrounding his feet lit up with Green light as his magic started swirling around him. The whole shack shook and cracks appeared all over the walls. They all stared in shock, as his ears elongated out the side of his head and tapered to a point, his nails turned black and grew out like claws.

"HARRY I WASN'T HELPING HIM! GIVE US A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN, HERE-" Lupin threw their wands back at them "-LOOK WE'RE NOT ARMED, LET US EXPLAIN!"

Harry caught his wand, but remained suspicious, his magic stopped swirling around him and the light vanished with it, the shack stopped shaking.

"How did you know he was here?" Harry asked whilst his ears turned to normal, his new claws remained though.

"I was studying the marauders map in my office, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder's Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."

"What?" said Ron. "No, we weren't!"

"I watched as two of you disappeared under the whomping willow-"

"there was only me!" Ron interrupted

"No, Ron," said Lupin. "Two of you." He had stopped his pacing, his eyes moving over Ron. "Do you think I could have a look at the rat?" he said evenly.

"What's Scabbers got to do with this?" Ron argued.

Cogs were clicking into place in Harry's head, 'Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, Moony... Wormtail... black was an Animagus... IT can't be, can it?'

"Ron hand it over" Harry said quietly, the fire had died from his eyes but they remained narrowed. Ron looked at him sharply but did nothing.

"Why?" Ron said, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"

"That's not a rat," croaked Sirius Black suddenly.

"What d'you mean, of course he's a rat-"

"No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard."

"An Animagus," said Black, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

* * *

**Wow, just one more chapter and third year will be over. All the awesome stuff will be in the next chapter.**

**Anyhow thanks for reading! XD**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hello!**

**I've got more answered questions for you guys, right so... I think demon blood will make the half bloods age differently because after all the demons are pretty much immortal, what I'm going to say though is that when there powers finally settle completely that's the age they stay (well not stay just age really really slowly), I'm going to say a demons or half-bloods power settle at 20 so that's how old Rin and Yukio will appear to be, those two and Harry will be more like brothers than uncle and nephew because compared to the ages of all the other sons of Satan they are a lot younger and there ages are closer together, so it just makes sense.**

**Will harry be paired with anyone? Hmm... I think that even if they are half demons they'd still fall for people like normal so I'm paring Rin with shiemi and I think harry will be paired with either Luna or one of the anime exwires kids, it seems harsh that the half-bloods and their kids would out live their respective partners but of course they can't just never fall for anyone or anyone never falls for them its just not possible... Not sure yet but I might do something similar to a vampire and like turn the other person or something, either that or they'll just out live them, unfortunately... I'm going to pair him with Luna because Hermione likes Ron as usual and I don't really like Ginny much she's just too fangirly for the earth kings son. (sorry Ginny fans)**

**Right... when do things change? hmm... tough one... i'm not to great at thinking far ahead because i usually change my mind when i get there but... the big changes occur 6th year and after. 5th will be pretty much the same, but with a few key differences. it will be 6th year where the exorcists majorly start getting involved. 5th year the exorcists are just preparing for war and being extremely unhappy about the ministry. When Voldemort revives with Harry's blood it won't do much because he's past the power settling age, however it will give him the ability to summon some demons (like Naberius, ghouls, ghosts and Chuchi) which will result in better Horcrux protections and Harry gets to majorly show off and upstage dumbledore. I won't say any more because it will spoil it...**

**ya know the demon sword things like Shura and Angel have (in the anime and manga)? I want to give Harry an Earth-ish plant-ish based one, but i'm really stuck for ideas... would anybody mind if i took senbonsakura from bleach? like have it shift between sealed, shikai and bankai when you run blood along the blade, like when Shura does and the sword grows and can shoot wind blade things... like i said i'm really stuck for ideas and i can't think of any kind of original cool sword idea... i will probably just use senbonsakura because i think with the earth king thing it would really fit his character, so i warned ya in advance if you hate bleach...**

**I think that's it... Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 6

"Your both mental!" Ron shouted.

Harry was merely staring at the rat, 'it actually... adds up... Wormtail... rat... animagus'

"Pettigrew's dead" Hermione said faintly pointing at black "He killed him twelve years ago"

"I meant to but he got the better of me... I won't make the same mistake!" Black snarled as he lunged forward.

Lupin grabbed him and tried to hurl him back... Black was a lot stronger than he looked, they struggled for a bit.

"Wait!... Sirius they've got to know, We've got to explain!... They deserve to know!... Harry deserves to know!"

Black calmed down. "Make your explanation quick Remus, i want to commit the murder i was in Azkaban for"

"Let me get this straight..." Harry said "From your conversation about switching... Peter was supposedly the secret keeper and he framed his own death?"

Lupin and Black looked at him astonished, "What? it wasn't that hard to deduce from what you said" Harry said to their astonishment. "Doesn't mean i believe you though"

"Yes... well... I thought Sirius had killed peter too... until i saw the map, the Marauders map never lies..." Lupin said quietly.

"its not possible, professor Lupin... it can't be true... it just can't" Hermione murmured faintly.

"Why can't it?" Lupin said Patiently.

"The ministry keeps tabs on all animagus, Peters name wasn't on the list of known animagi"

"Hermione, just because the ministry says that you need to register, doesn't mean everyone does" Harry said "So that's it isn't? Peter, Black and my Dad were Animagus illegally?"

"Yes, I didn't think i'd be able to come to Hogwarts because i was a Werewolf, but dumbledore set things up, so i could transform away from any people... and i made friends with James, Sirius and Peter, they found out i was a werewolf of course... but they didn't desert me... and in our fifth year they became animagus and joined me during the full moon, i was only a threat to humans you see, and they were safe... James was a stag hence his nickname prongs, Sirius was Padfoot and Peter was wormtail, a rat."

"That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?"

"A thought that still haunts me," said Lupin heavily. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless, carried away with our own cleverness."

"I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course... he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed..."

Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. "All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me... and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it... so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."

"Snape?" said Black harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers; for the first time in minutes and looking up at Lupin. "What's Snape got to do with it?"

"He's here, Sirius," said Lupin heavily. "He's teaching here as well." He looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore A year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons... you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me-"

Black made a derisive noise. "It served him right," he sneered. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to... hoping he could get us expelled..."

"Severus was very interested in where I went every month." Lupin told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "We were in the same year, you know, and we... er... didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field... anyway Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be... er... amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it... if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf... but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was..."

"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," said Harry slowly, "because he thought you were in on the joke?"

"That's right," sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin. Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing, directly at Lupin.

* * *

Harry watched the exchange between Snape and Lupin with little interest, his mind was whirling but everything was adding up... although he was very angry about Snape using his fathers cloak and was fighting the urge to rip the potions professor to pieces.

Stealthily he moved around the room and in-front of the door.

"Two more for Azkaban tonight," said Snape, his eyes now gleaming fanatically. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this... He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin... a tame werewolf-"

"You fool," said Lupin softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?" BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape's wand and twisted themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move. With a roar of rage, Black started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Black's eyes.

"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will." Black stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred.

"Professor?... it wouldn't hurt to hear what they have to say would it?" Hermione suggested tentatively.

Harry ignored her idea being shot down and Snape yelling at her, like he knew he would do. 'I have to know!'

As Snape went to move Black and Lupin towards the door he found Harry blocking his path.

"Move out of the way Potter!"

"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN-"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black... now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"

Harry's eyes flashed red as he lunged at Snape with inhuman speed, he lashed out with his foot, kicking him in the chest at the same time Ron and Hermione cried "Expelliarmus" and Snape went crashing back into the wall unconscious.

"We attacked a teacher... we are... going to be in so much trouble..." Hermione muttered faintly.

Lupin was struggling against his bonds, Harry knelt down and ripped them off using his new claws with ease.

"Thank you" Lupin murmured.

"I want proof if Scabbers is Peter, and if there is none I'll drag you to the dementors myself Black" Harry said looking at Sirius. "How did you know Peter was the rat anyway?"

"Thats a fair question actually, how did you find Peter?" Lupin asked as curious as the others.

Harry listened attentively as Black explained he'd seen the rat on the front cover of the Daily Prophet when Ron and his family had won that competition, but was still looking at the Rat.

"Thats it isn't?" He said suddenly shocking the others who were listening to Black say it was Peter who killed the muggles "The biggest part they found was his finger... he cut it off himself and made it look like he'd been blown to smithereens."

Black nodded, looking faintly relieved Harry had grasped it so quickly. Harry looked him straight in the eye, those emerald-cyan eyes seemed to bore into his soul.

"But you were the secret keeper were you not?" Harry asked. "And earlier you said you'd 'as good as killed them'"

"I convinced James to switch to Peter because people would automatically assume it was me and they'd come after me, no one would suspect Peter and so the secret was safe" Sirius said Bitterly.

Harry stared into his eyes for a second longer before turning to Ron and saying "Hand the Rat over"

Ron looked sharply at him but passed the rat to Harry who Handed it to Lupin, "Prove it" was all he said.

Lupin nodded, "Are you ready Sirius?"

* * *

It was like watching a tree grow in fast forward, Harry mused as he watched the Rat turn into a small man with beady, watery eyes.

Black's wand arm rose, but Lupin seized him around the wrist, gave him a warning took, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual. "We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed"

"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, and Harry could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"So we've heard," said Lupin, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so-"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, and Harry saw that he used his middle finger, because his index was missing. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too... You've got to help me, Remus..."

Black started forward but Harry beat him to it and punched him square in the jaw, the former rat crashed to the floor.

"Do not lie!" Harry snarled "I've spent 13 years living with the Dursley's I know every single tell sign that there is that give away a liar, i haven't seen any from them yet" He said gesturing to Sirius and Lupin.

"I s-swear it was the t-truth" the Rat squeaked, staring into luminous emerald-cyan eyes surrounding a crimson pupil.

"When trying to spot a liar you: Look for micro-expressions. Micro-expressions are facial expressions that flash on a person's face for a fraction of a second and reveal the person's true emotion, underneath the lie, for a second you were angry that you'd been found out, and you should not use eye contact or lack of it as a sole indicator of truthfulness. Contrary to popular belief, a liar does not always avoid eye contact. Humans naturally break eye contact and look at non-moving objects to help them focus and remember. Liars may deliberately make eye contact to seem more sincere; this can be practised to overcome any discomfort, as a way of "proving" that truth is being told, something else you just did; you looked both me and Lupin directly in the eye." Harry said. The others looked at him astonished.

"As well as that: people tend to sweat more when they lie, that's what your doing now, despite the fact that its rather cold tonight, as well as that If the head is nodding or shaking in opposition to what is being said, this can be a tell. This is called "incongruence." you were shaking your head when you said he was trying to kill you... there are many more tells than that but it doesn't matter enough to tell you them, I will know if you lie... so tell the truth or will break every bone in your body... are we clear?"

Pettigrew nodded weakly and Harry stepped back covering the door so he couldn't run for it.

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them... I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information... and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways."

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. "I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."

Pettigrew was muttering distractedly; Harry caught words like "far-fetched" and "lunacy," but he couldn't help paying more attention to the ashen colour of Pettigrew's face and the way his eyes continued to dart toward the windows and door.

Harry waved his wand and the windows locked, and course the Door was behind him. 'just in case' he thought.

"Er... Mr. Black... Sirius?" said Hermione. Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as though he had never seen anything quite like her.  
"If you don't mind me asking, how - how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?"

"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I-"

Harry silenced him with a murderous look, that promised pain.

"The dementors are blind, the feel there way around by detecting emotions, when i transformed into my Animagus form they affected me less, i was able to keep my head, once i found out he was at hogwarts in the perfect position to strike at Harry if Voldemort returned, I transformed, slipped through the bars and swam to shore"

He looked at Harry, who did not look away. "Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them." And at long last, Harry believed him. Throat too tight to speak right now, he nodded.

"No!" Peter looked as though they'd signed his death sentence.

"Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so," said Lupin grimly.

"You wouldn't... you won't...," gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled around to Ron. "Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you." But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion.

"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said.

"Kind boy... kind master..." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron "You won't let them do it... I was your rat... I was a good pet..."

Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry. "Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like him..."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" roared Black. "HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?"

"Harry," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed... James would have understood, Harry... he would have shown me mercy..."

Harry kicked him straight in the face, he crashed to the floor, blood dripping from his nose. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them.

"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," said Black, who was shaking too. "Do you deny it?"

"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord... you have no idea... he has weapons you can't imagine... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me-"

"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Black. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"

"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!" Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.

"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

Harry just stared at Peter with hatred. Hermione walked over to him and whispered in his ear.

"Harry, you can't let them kill him, if he dies we've got no proof Sirius is innocent"

He thought over her statement his expression thunderous, "Damn it all to Hell" he muttered.

"Stop!" He ordered Remus and Sirius, they looked incredulously back at him. Peter crawled over whilst they were distracted.

"Harry!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. "You... thank you... it's more than I deserve... thank you-"

Harry's Tail flashed forward and grabbed the Man around his neck, he effortlessly lifted him off the ground and up into the air. He struck peter across the chest with the side of his hand, there was a sickening crack as a few of his ribs broke, Peter howled in pain.

"DO NOT MISTAKE ME! I WANT NOTHING MORE THAN TO SEE YOU DIE! BUT WITHOUT YOU SIRIUS WILL BE SENT BACK TO AZKABAN, ONCE YOU SING FOR THE MINISTRY AND SIRIUS WALKS FREE, THE DEMENTORS CAN HAVE YOU MAYBE THEY'LL BE KIND ENOUGH TO END YOUR PATHETIC LIFE, IF NOT I'LL BREAK INTO AZKABAN AND DO IT MYSELF!"

The others stared in shock as he dropped the whimpering man on the floor.

* * *

After tying Peter to Lupin and Ron, and levitating Snape along they walked back downstairs and down the passageway back to Hogwarts.

Harry felt much better than he had in ages, Sirius had just offered to let him live with him and he could leave the Dursley's forever, plus Peter would get his comeuppance for betraying his parents.

Then all of them were out of the tunnel, the grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Without a word, they set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering. Harry's mind was buzzing. He was going to leave the Dursleys. He was going to live with Sirius Black, his parents' best friend... He felt dazed... What would happen when he told the Dursleys he was going to live with the convict they'd seen on television!

A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight.  
Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Harry and Hermione stop. Harry could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.

"Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now." But Harry couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. He leapt forward but Black caught him around the chest and threw him back.

"Leave it to me, RUN!"

There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end again; he was backing away-

As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harry's side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other.

Harry stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alerted him-

Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light, and Ron lay motionless on the ground. Another bang, Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap.

"Expelliarmus." Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted, running forward.  
Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. Harry saw his bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm and heard a scurrying through the grass.

"DAMMIT!" he cursed angrily before turning back to Lupin and Sirius.

There was a howl and a rumbling growl; Harry turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the forest-

"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry yelled. Black was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words he scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws faded to silence as he pounded away across the grounds, he went after Remus.

Harry and Hermione dashed over to Ron. "What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered. Ron's eyes were only half-closed, his mouth hung open; he was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, but he didn't seem to recognize them.

"I don't know..." Harry looked desperately around. Black and Lupin both gone... they had no one but Snape for company, still hanging, unconscious, in mid-air.

"We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," said Harry, pushing his hair out of his eyes, trying to think straight. "Come-"

But then, from beyond the range of their vision, they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain... "Sirius," Harry muttered, staring into the darkness.

He ran off, Hermione right behind him, but he was outstripping her.

They were deep in the woods when they saw them, Sirius was pinned by the Werewolf. Hermione let out a little scream, The wolf was going to bite him.

'NO... NO... NOOOOO!' Harry thought, 'he can't die... HE CAN'T!'

It was like a red mist invaded his vision and he let out a roar as he rushed forward, his ears elongated, his claws grew and his pupils burned with crimson flames.

He launched off the ground and threw a kick at the wolfs side with all his might, Remus flew away from him and crashed through a nearby tree.

Sirius scrambled to his paws and wandered off a way, his jaw dropped. Hermione shrieked.

The wolf was back on his feet and lunged toward him, Harry leaped backwards and up onto a tree branch 20 feet of the ground. The wolf roared at him and leaped up trying to follow. Harry went higher and higher jumping from tree to tree and was eventually stood horizontally on the side of one of the largest trees at the very top (casually as if he wasn't defying gravity), Remus had climbed up after him. There were a ways off from the others now but Harry didn't comprehend this, it was as if he was viewing this through someone else's eyes, his body moving on its own.

Harry grabbed a thick branch from a tree top next to him, snapped it off and threw it straight down at the wolf. Remus jumped off the tree and out of its way, but before he could land on a tree branch behind him, Harry was above him and drop kicked him.

Remus flew towards the ground at the speed of a jet, breaking the sound barrier and throwing up dust, rocks, and broken tree branches into the air where he landed. The sound was deafening. The ground cracked beneath him and the Wolf howled in pain, yet Harry landed nearby with barely a sound. He instantly pounced on the wolf and began mercilessly punching every inch of him he could reach.

In an act of desperation the wolf threw his shoulder forward and knocked Harry back, he rolled in mid-air and landed on all fours, similar to his opponent.

Remus got up shakily and stood on his hind legs and roared, Harry stared unflinching, eyes unseeing, even as Lupin launched several tree branches towards him. He leaped up and dodged them neatly, landing crouched.

With speed previously unknown the werewolf launched himself towards Harry and Pinned him to the floor, His paw like hands scrambling for grip on the young green haired boys neck, as he growled down at him teeth bared. Harry growled back, his elongated fangs glinting wickedly in the sparse moonlight. He raised his fist and brought it down upon the ground, the earth cracked and groaned, a large jagged chasm opening from where he struck, the forest rumbled and shook to its very roots, some of the weaker trees went crashing the floor, animals all bolted away from the epicentre very much aware that a being was currently in their wood that could kill them all, the Acromantulas cowered in their nest prayed this being would be merciful... Taking advantage of the Wolfs distraction Harry kicked him in the stomach with both legs, sending it away from him, in the same movement he used his hands to shift his body weight and flip his feet underneath him and stand back up.

The wolf and Harry stared each other down, seconds seemed to pass in eternity before the wolf backed down, its tail between its legs as it bounded off.

Harry started after it, intent on finishing what he started, when a scream split the air combined with pained yelps, it tore through the red haze in his mind and brought him back to reality. He had no time to ponder his new-found ability's as he recognized the voices... it was Hermione and Sirius.

He sped towards the sound, trees blurred past him as he spurned himself forward ignoring the burning in his legs, he leapt over a fallen tree and ran on.

'please don't be hurt... please...'

He came out of the woods and reached the lake shore. He thought his heart had stopped.

Sirius (a man once again) was on all fours... Hermione kneeling nearby...

Dementors, at least a hundred of them, were gliding in a black mass around the lake toward them. He spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating his insides, fog starting to obscure his vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were encircling them...

"Expecto Patronum... Expecto Patronum!"

But no matter how many times he said it, they closed in and the silver wisps emitted from his wand did nothing to hold them at bay.

He could feel them watching him, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around him. The nearest dementor seemed to be considering him. Then it raised both its rotting hands and lowered its hood. Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, grey scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth... a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle.

A paralysing terror filled Harry so that he couldn't move or speak. His Patronus flickered and died.  
White fog was blinding him. He had to fight... expecto patronum ... he couldn't see... and in the distance, he heard the familiar screaming... expecto patronum... he groped in the mist for Sirius, and found his arm... they weren't going to take him...

But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached themselves around Harry's neck. They were forcing his face upward... He could feel its breath... It was going to get rid of him first... He could feel its putrid breath... His mother was screaming in his ears... She was going to be the last thing he ever heard-

And then, through the fog that was drowning him, he thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and brighter... He felt himself fall forward onto the grass... Face-down, too weak to move, sick and shaking, Harry opened his eyes. The dementor must have released him. The blinding light was illuminating the grass around him... The screaming had stopped, the cold was ebbing away...

Something was driving the dementors back... It was circling around him and Black and Hermione... Those things were leaving... The air was warm again...

With every ounce of strength he could muster, Harry raised his head a few inches and saw a large round animal with a arrowhead tail amid the light, racing away across the lake... Eyes blurred with sweat, Harry tried to make out what it was... It was as bright as a floodlight but as large as an elephant... Fighting to stay conscious, Harry watched it bound to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For a moment, Harry saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming it back... raising his hand to pat its large nose... someone who looked strangely familiar ... but it couldn't be...

Harry didn't understand. He couldn't think anymore. He felt the last of his strength leave him, and his head hit the ground as he gave way to dizzying blackness.

* * *

Harry lay listening with his eyes tight shut. He felt very groggy. The words he was hearing seemed to be travelling very slowly from his ears to his brain, so that it was difficult to understand... His limbs felt like lead; his eyelids too heavy to lift... He wanted to lie here, on this comfortable bed, forever...

"What amazes me most is the behavior of the dementors... you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?"

"No, Minister... by the time I had come 'round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances..."

"Extraordinary. And yet Black, and Harry, and the girl-"

"All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight back to the castle."

There was a pause. Harry's brain seemed to be moving a little faster, and as it did, a gnawing sensation grew in the pit of his stomach...

He opened his eyes. He was lying in the dark hospital wing. At the very end of the ward, he could make out Madam Pomfrey with her back to him, bending over a bed. Harry squinted. Ron's red hair was visible beneath Madam Pomfrey's arm.

Harry moved his head over on the pillow. In the bed to his right lay Hermione. Moonlight was falling across her bed. Her eyes were open too. She looked petrified, and when she saw that Harry was awake, pressed a finger to her lips, then pointed to the hospital wing door. It was ajar, and the voices of Cornelius Fudge and Snape were coming through it from the corridor outside.

Madam Pomfrey now came walking briskly up the dark ward to Harry's bed. He turned to took at her. She was carrying the largest block of chocolate he had ever seen in his life. It looked like a small boulder.

"Ah, you're awake!" she said briskly. She placed the chocolate on Harry's bedside table and began breaking it apart with a small hammer.

"How's Ron?" said Harry and Hermione together.

"He'll live, said Madam Pomfrey grimly. "As for you two you'll be staying here until I'm satisfied you're- Potter, what do you think you're doing?"  
Harry was sitting up, and picking up his wand. "I need to see the headmaster," he said.

"Potter," said Madam Pomfrey soothingly, "it's all right. They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The dementors will be performing the kiss any moment now-"

"WHAT?" Harry jumped up out of bed; Hermione had done the same. They stared at her in horror, his tail hung limply.

* * *

The minister refused to listen to them, Snape wasn't helping the matter either, then dumbledore walked in and shooed everyone out of the room.

It closed behind them, and Dumbledore turned to Harry and Hermione. They both burst into speech at the same time.

"Professor, Black's telling the truth, we saw Pettigrew, he escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf-"  
"-he's a rat-"  
"-Pettigrew's front paw, I mean, finger, he cut it off-"

"-Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius-" But Dumbledore held up his hand to stem the flood of explanations.

"It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me, because there is very little time," he said quietly. "There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except your word, and the word of two thirteen-year-old wizards will not convince anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper."

"Professor Lupin can tell you-" Harry said angrily, unable to stop himself

"Listen to me, Harry. It is too late, you understand me? You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours, Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady, entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife, without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence."

"But you believe us."

"Yes, I do," said Dumbledore quietly. "But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Minister of Magic..."

"What we need," said Dumbledore slowly, and his light blue eyes moved from Harry to Hermione, "is more time."

"But-" Hermione began. And then her eyes became very round. "OH!"

"Now, pay attention," said Dumbledore, speaking very low, and very clearly. "Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight. But remember this, both of you: you must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law, you know what is at stake... You. must. not. be. seen."

Harry didn't have a clue what was going on, his tail lashed in frustration. Dumbledore had turned on his heel and looked back as he reached the door.

"I am going to lock you in. It is-" he consulted his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."

"Good luck?" Harry repeated as the door closed behind Dumbledore. "Three turns? What's he talking about? What are we supposed to do?"

But Hermione was fumbling with the neck of her shirt, pulling from beneath them a very long, very fine gold chain.

"Harry, come here," she said urgently. "Quick!" Harry moved toward her, completely bewildered. She was holding the chain out. He saw a tiny, sparkling hourglass hanging from it.

"Here-" She had thrown the chain around his neck too. "Ready?" she said breathlessly.

"What are we doing?" Harry said, completely lost. Hermione turned the hourglass over three times.

The dark ward dissolved. Harry had the sensation that he was flying very fast, backward. A blur of colours and shapes rushed past him, his ears were pounding, he tried to yell but couldn't hear his own voice, and then he felt solid ground beneath his feet, and everything came into focus again-

He was standing next to Hermione in the deserted entrance hall and a stream of golden sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the open front doors. He looked wildly around at Hermione, the chain of the hourglass cutting into his neck.

"In here!" Hermione seized Harry's arm and dragged him across the hall to the door of a broom closet; she opened it, pushed him inside among the buckets and mops, then slammed the door behind them.

"We've gone back in time," Hermione whispered, lifting the chain off Harry's neck in the darkness. "Three hours back..."

"But-"

"Shh! Listen! Someone's coming! I think, I think it might be us!" Hermione had her ear pressed against the cupboard door.

"Footsteps across the hall... yes, I think it's us going down to Hagrid's!"

"Are you telling me," Harry whispered, "that we're here in this cupboard and we're out there too?"

"Yes," said Hermione, her ear still glued to the cupboard door. "I'm sure it's us. It doesn't sound like more than three people... and we're walking slowly because we're under the Invisibility Cloak- " She broke off, still listening intently. "We've gone down the front steps..."

Hermione sat down on an upturned bucket, looking desperately anxious, but Harry wanted a few questions answered.

"Where did you get that hourglass thing?"

"It's called a Time-Turner," Hermione whispered, "and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies... I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see? But...Harry, I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? How's that going to help Sirius?"

Harry stared at her shadowy face. Ignoring the fact she was messing with the fabric of time and space just so she could take more classes.

"If we're three hours back, and we're just going down to Hagrid's... we save Buckbeak... we ride the Hippogriff up to the tower window... and Sirius gets away on Buckbeak" Harry said urgently.

"Thats brilliant! I think we're clear... lets go!" she said, whilst Harry wondered why she sounded so surprised he'd come up with a good idea.

* * *

All in all, their plan went rather well, they succeeded in getting buck-beak free and watched and waited as they went through the tunnel to the Whomping willow.

They moved out of the way as Lupin ran into the woods, the earlier versions of them following after him, and went back towards Hagrids cabin. It gave them a very abstract view of his fight with Lupin, all they could see was dust, falling trees, him leaping over tree-tops and at one point a Wolf shooting toward the ground.

"Harry... how did you do that?" Hermione murmured faintly.

"I don't know... it was me... but not me... it was like i was watching someone else do all those things... maybe it was... survival instinct... i don't know and quite frankly i'm not sure if i want to know" He replied just as faintly.

"Don't worry Harry, no matter what it was, me and Ron will stick behind you all they way."

Harry smiled at her before sobering. "We should go towards the lake, we won't interfere we just need to watch to know when to get Sirius"

"Okay"

* * *

And there were the dementors. They were emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake... They were moving away from where Harry stood, to the opposite bank... He wouldn't have to get near them...

Harry began to run. He had no thought in his head except his father (he was sure he'd seen him save them)... If it was him... if it really was him... he had to know, had to find out...

The lake was coming nearer and nearer, but there was no sign of anybody. On the opposite bank, he could see tiny glimmers of silver, his own attempts at a Patronus-

There was a bush at the very edge of the water. Harry threw himself behind it, peering desperately through the leaves. On the opposite bank, the glimmers of silver were suddenly extinguished. A terrified excitement shot through him, any moment now...

"Come on!" he muttered, staring about. "Where are you? Dad, come on-"

But no one came. Harry raised his head to look at the circle of dementors across the lake. One of them was lowering its hood. It was time for the rescuer to appear but no one was coming to help this time...

And then it hit him, he understood. He hadn't seen his father, he had seen himself...

Harry flung himself out from behind the bush and pulled out his wand. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! "he yelled, and out of the end of his wand burst, not a shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver creature.

It was round and had four large horns, its whole body and head just one round shape, it had stubby hind legs and thick forearms which it used run on akin to a primate, it had a crown in the middle of its horns, and a thick fat tail topped with an arrow shape.

It charged the Dementors... Now it was bounding around and around the black shapes on the ground, and the dementors were falling back, scattering, retreating into the darkness... They were gone.

It turned back towards him, he noticed it had huge eyes and a large nose similar to a dogs, a huge wickedly curved mouth filled with razor sharp teeth and a big lolling tongue.

It bounded in a casual gait across towards him. That was when he realised, it was a Hobgoblin, a king of hobgoblins to be specific, and it had swirling patterns all over it in varying shades of silver.

As his trembling fingertips stretched toward the creature, it vanished. Harry stood there, hand still outstretched. Then, with a great leap of his heart, he heard hooves behind him, he whirled around and saw Hermione dashing toward him, dragging Buckbeak behind her.

"What did you do?" she said fiercely. "You said you were only going to keep a lookout!"

"I just saved all our lives...," said Harry a little frustrated with her. "Get behind here, behind this bush, I'll explain."

Hermione listened to what had just happened with her mouth open yet again. "Did anyone see you?"

"Yes, haven't you been listening? I saw me but I thought I was my dad! It's okay!"

"Harry, I can't believe it... You conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those dementors! That's very, very advanced magic."

"I knew I could do it this time," said Harry, "because I'd already done it... Does that make sense?"

she nodded vaguely before saying, "Look at Snape!"

They watched as Snape levitated them all back to the castle.

"Now all we do is wait" Harry muttered.

* * *

They didn't have to wait too long, Macnair was soon seen running to get the dementors, and they mounted Buckbeak and flew up to the tower.

"He's there!" Harry said, spotting Sirius as they rose up beside the window. He reached out, and as Buckbeak's wings fell, was able to tap sharply on the glass.

Black looked up. Harry saw his jaw drop. He leapt from his chair, hurried to the window and tried to open it, but it was locked.

Hermione tried Alohamora but it wouldn't budge, Harry leaned over, grasped the edge of the window on tore it from the wall.

The window hung loose, meekly hanging on by one hinge.

Black picked up his jaw and climbed through the window. Once he was seated they flew to the west battlement and jumped off leaving Sirius on the Hippogriff.

"Thank you... you clearly are your fathers son" he said before He squeezed Buckbeak's sides with his heels. Harry and Hermione jumped back as the enormous wings rose once more... The Hippogriff took off into the air... He and his rider became smaller and smaller as Harry gazed after them... then a cloud drifted across the moon... They were gone.

* * *

**Wow this chapter was my longest to date, like i said a the top of this rather long page, thanks for reading!**

**What did you think of my first proper fight scene?**

**please review! **


	8. Chapter 7

**Hello again!**

**I appreciate the sword suggestions, but i had to Google Ascalon and Caliburn, i drew a complete blank on them... i'm assuming you mean the ones from high school DxD, because i really have no idea... i'm assuming it was them because it would be ironic if he had holy swords... no idea what they do either for that matter... i'm still leaning towards Senbonzakura, but i think I'll change how the sword looks in its sealed state other than that i think it would work because it references plants but is still pretty awesome and really cool, just because demon swords are exactly what they say on the tin and are sentient, bleach swords just make sense, i liked the gauntlet idea but i'm a sword person (i really like swords, they're awesome and people who use them are really really awesome) and i want Rin to teach him... ****  
**

**About the animal form, I decided to switch them around, his demon form will be a king cobra because demon forms are so far rather small (like the dog and the hamster) but his animagus form will be a Maned wolf (because its a cool animal that hardly anybody knows of and the others just didn't seem to fit as well as this one).**

**Oh, and thanks for the blood ritual idea that solves my problem of Rin outliving shiemi and harry outliving Luna! XD**

**Hope you enjoy the story!**

* * *

Chapter 7

They made it back just in time before Professor Dumbledore locked the door, they hurried inside and got back to their beds before Madam Pomfrey noticed.

"What-what happened?" Ron groaned suddenly. "Harry? Why are we in here? Where's Sirius? Where's Lupin? What's going on?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. "You explain," Harry said, helping himself to some more chocolate.

They were released the next day at Noon, it was almost deserted, most of the students had gone to hogsmeade to make use of the (rarely seen in Scotland) sunshine. Him, Ron and Hermione went to sit by the lake.

That was when a teary but extremely happy Hagrid came over to tell them Buckbeak escaped (they thought they'd pretended not to know about it already rather well), and also informed them that Snape had announced at breakfast that Lupin was a Werewolf and because of that Lupin had resigned.

Harry went to see him, more to apologize for last night than anything else.

When he got there, the door was already open, Lupin had been looking at the Map and saw him coming.

"Professor... i'm sorry about... ya know..." He stammered.

"Its alright Harry, besides if you hadn't done what you did, Padfoot could be dead by now."

"But.. I..."

"No, Harry it wasn't your fault, and besides... I'm assuming you don't know what's going on..."

Harry shook his head, "I really have no clue, Madam Pomfrey doesn't either... it was weird... like i was doing it but at the same time i wasn't, like i was watching someone else in control... what i do know is that it only happened because i completely lost control when i saw you about to bite Padfoot... i really wish i did know... because i highly doubt its some mutation thing like out of X-men or something else ridiculously stupid..."

"What's the X-men?" Lupin queried, completely bewildered.

Harry just face palmed and muttered "Doesn't matter"

Lupin later gave him back the Invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map, then Dumbledore showed up to tell Lupin his carriage was ready.

Dumbledore also talked about what had happened last night, he tried to say it was a good thing he'd spared Peter because Peter would owe him but Harry still thought he should have let them kill the rat or done it himself.

* * *

Nobody at Hogwarts knew what had happened that night except that Sirius and Buckbeak had escaped. There were many wild theories on the matter but none any where near to the truth. The End of the year was fast approaching and none wanted to stay more than Harry, especially because he'd come so close to leaving the Dursleys forever, going back was extra hard this year, he had briefly considered running away, but where would he go? and so it was with a heavy heart that Harry boarded the Hogwarts express headed back to London.

"Oh, cheer up, Harry!" said Hermione sadly.

"I'm okay," said Harry quickly. "Just thinking about the holidays."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about them too," said Ron. "Harry, you've got to come and stay with us. I'll fix it up with Mum and Dad, then I'll call you. I know how to use a fellytone now-"

"A telephone, Ron," said Hermione. "Honestly, you should take Muggle Studies next year..."

Ron ignored her. "It's the Quidditch World Cup this summer! How about it, Harry? Come and stay, and we'll go and see it! Dad can usually get tickets from work."

This proposal had the effect of cheering Harry up a great deal.  
"Yeah... I bet the Dursley's would be pleased to let me come... especially after what I did to Aunt Marge... and the earthquake."

The train journey continued on with a few games of exploding snap before they heard tapping on the window, it was a letter from Sirius.

It also had enclosed a slip of parchment that gave him permission to go to Hogsmeade next year.

So all in all he felt a lot better than when he'd got on the train.

Harry read and reread the letter from Sirius all the way back into King's Cross station. It was still clutched tightly in his hand as he, Ron, and Hermione stepped back through the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters. Harry spotted Uncle Vernon at once. He was standing a good distance from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, eyeing them suspiciously, and when Mrs. Weasley hugged Harry in greeting, his worst suspicions about them seemed confirmed.

"I'll call about the World Cup!" Ron yelled after Harry as Harry bid him and Hermione good-bye, then wheeled the trolley bearing his trunk and Hedwig's cage toward Uncle Vernon, who greeted him in his usual fashion.

"What's that?" he snarled, staring at the envelope Harry was still clutching in his hand. "If it's another form for me to sign, you've got another-"

"It's not," said Harry slyly. "It's a letter from my godfather."

"Godfather?" sputtered Uncle Vernon. "You haven't got a godfather!"

"Yes, I have," said Harry, letting a small smirk cross his lips. "He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though... keep up with my news... check if I'm happy..."

And, smirking widely at the look of horror on Uncle Vernon's face, Harry set off toward the station exit, Hedwig rattling along in front of him, for what looked like a much better summer than the last.

* * *

He was so far wrong about it being a better summer than the last one, Dudley was now so overweight that his school was forcing him on a diet, and Aunt Petunia said that they all had to follow it for 'support', so all in all Harry was not particularly happy. As well as that there had been a lot of random demons in the area, and way more coal tar than there used to be, he knew you couldn't see demons unless you'd received temptaint or you had magic and it started maturing (usually around the same time you went to a magic school, even then you still can't see some until much later on, it really depends on the person) but it still made him uneasy that there were that many around some completely normal place like Privet drive pretty far from any city. He'd considered contacting the ministry using Hedwig, surely it wasn't normal for there to be this many demons or magical creatures around, surely it was their job to deal with this, but what if unconsciously... it was his fault?... what then? that was what stopped him, he just had an inking it had to do with him, why else would they be congregating there he was the only one who could even see them for miles.

He had so far been back home for three days, Some Hobgoblins had been causing havoc and whilst it was kinda funny (especially when they got all four of Vernon's tyres), he was worried it would escalate or attract more demons, or worse, bigger demons. He'd even seen a Delkap (A relatively low-level demon possessing trees and grass, but on rare occasions it can charm humans and turn villainous.) Luckily it was in a less populated area, where humans weren't likely to come across it, because whilst they had briefly heard about them in DADA there was said to be no way to stop them (unless you had the True Cross Order on speed dial), it seemed to get rather excited when he walked past it so he avoided the area like the plague. In areas of dense magical energy Demons don't show up unless summoned or brought there unless they are a rather high level because the lower levels just don't like the magic in the air (where as the high levels love it), so he'd never encountered a situation like this.

He sighed, he'd only been back a few days and already things were not going his way, he mused as he walked towards home.

He heard a scream and whipped round, eyes wide, it was coming from an alley in between two empty lots. He was currently about 5 blocks away from Privet Drive.

He ran towards it and drew his wand, heart pounding in his chest, it was nearly dark, and the sun was setting... 'what the hell is going on now?'

That was when he saw it, it was a massive collective entity of coal tar... Harry stared in shock, it was advancing towards some young lady, who had a large gash on one shoulder, and was crouched by the wall of the alley, staring up a it with terrified eyes.

He shakily went to raise his wand. To do what he didn't know, but he had to do something, maybe a stunner would work...

BANG! BANG! shots rang out and he felt something fly past him, they impacted with the Coal tar and it let out an animalistic shriek as parts of it disintegrated.

BANG! another shot, and the coal tar dissipated. Two men in long black coats with scarf's covering their mouths ran past him to the woman and began treating the wound.

Another person jumped down from the top of the building, and landed lightly in-front of him, his cape flaring as he did.

He had a white top hat, ringed with pale purple and and pink. He was carrying a pink odd shaped umbrella. He was wearing an all white suit, black shoes and purple gloves, with a white cape over the top, but what shocked Harry was his hair... it was purple.

"Sir, the problem has been dealt with, and we will have transport ready to take the woman to hospital soon, what about the boy?" one of the masked men said.

Harry briefly considered running, he knew enough about the True Cross exorcists (ran by the Vatican) to know their badge when he saw it, he was not only a wizard but he had theorized he was what was attracting all of these demons to the area. 'Dammit'

"I'll explain everything to him, you know the drill, after all our meeting's over, all we were doing was heading to the airport, its a private jet it'll wait" The purple haired man answered, his subordinates sweat dropped at how casually he said that.

Said purple Haired man turned around and gave Harry a good look at his green eyes and strange purple bangs that fell down to a pink polka dot ascot, But the man had taken a step back and his eyes had widened to rather epic proportions.

'please tell me these exorcists don't know about the whole boy-who-lived thing?' Harry thought, painfully aware that whilst his hair had grown quite a bit (it now reached between his shoulder blades) it still didn't cover his scar, his hair just didn't grow in the right way to cover it no matter how he parted it.

The man still just stared with his mouth hanging open.

* * *

**Mephisto point of view**

I turned around, expecting to see a rather frightened teenager who would need the usual explanation as he had obviously been able to see the coal tar and would then be sent home told not to mention it to anyone else because they'll think he's crazy... But what he got was a Wizard, with wand in hand, his eyes moved from the wand and up to look at the boy and he was quite sure he nearly had a heart attack.

Stood there in the alley way was someone who could easily pass as his younger brothers twin, he had Emerald green hair (lighter towards the top), it was rather long and mainly straight but some of it stuck out at odd angles at the front, and he had shining green eyes ringed with cyan around the pupil. He was dressed plainly in jeans and t-shirt and looked about 14-15. He looked so much like Amaimon for a second he was positive his brother had switched human vessels and it was in the middle of changing to suit his actual appearance (whilst demons could stop that from happening neither he nor amaimon liked to do so, preferring to look as they naturally do), before he remembered his brother was a very different person than the apathetic green haired irritant of 35 years ago, before he was banished, he might have returned 13 years ago, but it was not the same person who came back.

**flash-back**

_"Ah, it seems the estranged son returns" Satan mused to his second eldest son, "I had expected his mortal life to be a little bit longer than this"_

_Suddenly the ground shook beneath their feet, as a pained howl split the air, filled with anger, hatred and sorrow._

_Mephisto's eyes widened in shock before he took off running down the corridors of the palace intent on getting outside, his father was just behind him, who knew what was wrong with him, neither had ever heard him sound this pained and contrary to popular belief they did all care about their family, the shaking did little to bother them, far to used to his earthquakes by now._

_Their footsteps reverberated around the lonely passage ways, as they neared the palace gates the demons guarding it threw them open. They ran through with out stopping following the cries of the 7th strongest demon king._

_When they came across him they noticed all of the other demon kings were already stood nearby, unmoving, merely staring in shock at their youngest brother (not counting Rin and Yukio) as they neared them they saw why._

__Amaimon was on his knee's screaming his pain to the world as thick tears ran down his face.__

__Mephisto was the one who usually ended up fixing whatever issues his brothers had (because the eldest Lucifer didn't really care much) so he walked forward ignoring the quaking ground and placed a hand on Amaimon's shoulder.__

__Amaimon whipped round to face him, suddenly noticing the others, he ignored Mephisto and faced their father, the tears still running thick and fast down his face, he stood.__

__"its... your fault... all your... fault" he muttered over and over.__

__"Amaimon what's wrong-" Mephisto tried to ask.__

__"ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!" their brother screamed and leapt towards Satan claws raised. __

__Iblis and Egyn lunged forward to stop him, "Get it together! think about what your doing!"__

__"ITS ALL YOUR FAULT... THEY DIED BECAUSE YOU SEALED MY POWERS... THEY DIED AND ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!" He screeched over and over.__

__The others looked on helplessly as he stopped struggling, and fell back onto his knees. Never had they seen him this broken.__

__ Mephisto rushed over, "What's wrong? we can't help if you won't tell us" he said urgently.__

__"They died... they died... and i could do nothing!" He snarled bitterly.__

__Eventually he managed to tell them about the wizarding war and Lily and Harry, and how voldemort had come for them and he'd died and saw that madman walk after his family.__

__Mephisto nodded to Astaroth, he didn't even need to ask, the silver haired demon vanished and went to Assiah to check in-case they'd made it.__

__Amaimon had stopped crying but instead just sat there with his eyes glazed over, he seemed so lost.__

__Mephisto picked him up and carried him into the Palace for once his face was set in a grim line, the others followed, when got to the throne room they placed him on the floor, he sat up against the wall, limply. And they waited...__

__Astaroth returned soon after, he said quietly to the others "the woman's body was still there, i was going to grab it, so we could give her a proper burial but someone was coming so i had to leave, i couldn't see the child's body but half the nursery was caved in, there'd been some kind of explosion, it centred from where the crib was, either the body was completely destroyed or it was buried in the rubble" __

__They all looked at Amaimon in pity, Satan walked over knelt down besides the earth king and placed his clawed hand lightly on his head, Amaimon raised his eyes to look at him, the others tensed expecting another violent outburst, but all the earth king did was start to cry again.__

__"i was too weak... i was too weak... to protect them..."__

__Amaimon, the Earth king, 7th strongest of Satan's full-blooded demon sons, cried into his fathers shirt.__

* * *

__It had taken a full year for Amaimon to come out of his depression over their deaths, but even then the other demon kings were sad to note he was not the same, he was no longer the curious, eternally bored, candy lover they had all known for so long, all he wanted to do was train. When asked why he said it was because he wanted to be strong enough to never lose anything again.__

__He rose through the ranks of the demon kings, he became third strongest in just three years since Lily's and Harry's death, yet he was not happy with this and kept training until he'd collapse from exhaustion every day.__

__All of his kin, the earth demons could feel his sadness and his pain, and they lost their vigour and life and became quiet and apathetic to the world around them.__

__Eventually (seven years after their passing) Satan ordered his son to earth, hoping that Mephisto and the wonders of the human world would bring him out it, it didn't, he even pledged allegiance to the exorcists gaining the same rank as Mephisto; Honorary Knight, when the Vatican asked his reasons for joining them he had stated: "When demons attack humans it makes other humans feel helpless despair does it not? the feeling that you can't do anything and are just forced to watch and pick up the pieces when its over... that despair should not have to be felt by anyone!" he had said it with such conviction, and passion the Vatican did not question it much and stationed him to work under his brother Mephisto at the Tokyo Branch of exorcists (to first prove his trustworthiness). They knew he'd spent time as a human and something happened but they didn't know the full story, all they knew was he'd done a complete 180 on his personality and really turned around.____  
__

__Afterwards he'd even made it up with the other exorcists (who had been the exwire____s that he'd attacked once, who were now 36, and fully fledged exorcists) and him and Rin had actually started to act like brothers, Yukio was less eager but Rin understood the feeling that some ones death was your fault and so him and Amaimon got on very well this time around.__

__The only time you could see the old Amaimon nowadays was when he'd tilt his head curiously at certain things humans say or do and when he'd walk around with a lollipop in his mouth.__

__To be honest it changed the other kings as well, to watch one of their youngest brothers fall so far into depression, his despair was like a fog and it spread through the palace, crushing their hopes and driving pain into their hearts whenever Amaimon woke up screaming from a nightmare about that Halloween.__

**End flash-back**

Mephisto shook of thoughts of his brother, and looked at the kid in-front of him.

"I'm sure your a bit shaken, and its dark already why don't i walk you home kid? evidently due to the wand you know what just happened but still must be quite a shock to see in person"

"Okay..." the currently nameless kid muttered.

"Where do you live?"

"N-Number 4, Privet Drive" He stammered.

"Come on then!" Mephisto said in sing-song voice, as he walked off, swinging his arms as he did.

* * *

Harry hurried after the white-clad purple haired man, that reminded him of a Clown.

"So kid how old are ya? and an even better question: What's your name?" He asked, as they were walking casually down the street, leaving the other Exorcists behind.

"14"

"Oh, tall for a 14 year old... aren't ya? but I asked your name"

The boys next words froze his demon soul.

"Harry, Harry Potter"

_Potter._ 'there must be hundreds of Potters... imagining things'.His usual trade-mark wide smile was slipping off his face, and he whipped around startling the green-haired boy.

"Who was your father?" he asked pretending mere curiosity, "'Potter' sounds familiar... maybe I knew him, i'm a lot older than I look, and i know a lot of people" 'Just imagining things... seeing what i want to see, he doesn't look that much like Amaimon...maybe'

"James Potter" he answered.

'No... no... no... can't be... they both died!' "Who was your mother?!" he asked urgently.

"Lily Potter... nee Evans" the kid murmured, uncertainly, surprised by the sudden change in the Clown's demeanour.

"When did they die?" Mephisto asked.

"31st of October, 13 years ago... wait how did you know they died? I never said they'd died" He asked suspiciously.

'we were wrong... oh, dear Satan we were wrong... he's been alive... all these years... and he'd been alive'

* * *

**Normal point of view**

"Ein, Zwei, Drei" he called out, snapping his fingers.

Everything stopped around them, the birds above stopped moving, the sun stopped sinking in the sky, the wind stopped blowing and the trees and the grass stopped rustling. Everything froze.

Harry stared around in awe, 'has this man seriously just stopped time?!'

"Your probably wondering why I did that..." The man mused.

Harry nodded meekly.

"Well we have a lot to... Discuss... Right I'll start with introductions... My name is Mephisto Pheles, head of the Tokyo branch of exorcists, and also known as Johann Faust, Principal of true cross academy."

Harry started a little at that, even he'd heard of True Cross academy, it was supposed to be the most prestigious school in the world.

"What few people know however is that my true name is Samael, demon king of space and time"

Harry took two shocked steps backward before tripping and landing on his but. "B-but your an Exorcist..." he said weekly staring up at the most powerful being he had ever met.

"Yes, and they do know about that, i'm just affiliated with them now, have been for 200 years or so."

Harry continued to stare.

"Right, moving on... What do you know about how Demons exist in Assiah (this world)?" The king of time asked as if this was an ordinary question.

"Well they have to possess stuff... right? Anything from dust to Humans, but only more powerful ones can possess a human" Harry eventually muttered, he was unaware his tail had slipped from around his waist and was twitching slightly on the stone walkway behind him. Mephisto smirked when he saw it, 'there's the proof then.'

"Correct... And do you know who the most powerful demons are?" Mephisto asked, an even larger smile than usual replacing his serious demeanour, 'After all finding out your nephew is alive after believing he was dead for 13 years is something to pleased about'

"Satan, the god of demons and the 8 kings... supposedly" Harry stammered, feeling very out of depth.

"Good, that means i have less to explain... i'm judging from the tail, weird stuff has being happening to you lately-" Harry nodded "- well what you probably don't know is that Satan had two more sons than the 8 kings, fraternal twins to be exact, born from a human woman... well one of these other sons got into a fight with Amaimon the King of Earth, are you keeping up so far?" Mephisto said, cheerfully.

Harry merely nodded again.

"Great... now Satan, our father wasn't happy with one of his sons trying to kill another and so he sealed Amaimon's powers and banished him to Assiah to live a mortal life, and he would of course return to Gehenna when this mortal life ended, because with his powers sealed he was just another human, do you see where i'm going with this?"

Harry shook his head, completely bewildered.

Mephisto sighed and looked down at him patronizingly, "Sometimes i forget how stupid children can be... Amaimon was banished into another human vessel because of course sending him with the one he used before would have defeated the objective of the punishment... can you guess who his new host was?"

Harry shook his head again, uncertainly.

"His new vessel was James Potter" Mephisto announced, in his usual eccentric manner, sweeping his hat of his head and spreading his arms wide, cape flaring.

Harry just stared... 'What the HELL? JAMES POTTER WAS... HE WAS...'

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HIS 'VESSEL' WAS JAMES POTTER?" Harry shouted getting back up of the floor, and glaring up at the six foot tall man. Tail lashing.

"Exactly what i said, the actual James Potter would have died at just three days old, he had a heart defect you see, you would never had existed, he'd have never gone to hogwarts or met lily, you would never have been born" Mephisto stated calmly.

"But... but..." Harry stammered, "Thats impossible I can't be... Half-demon... that's ridiculous... there's no way this... Amaimon guy can be my father... its just not possible..."

"Well, haven't you noticed strange things lately, minor earth shaking, being stronger than you should be maybe... and all these demons, they might not have known who you were but they could tell you had power and were attracted to it... Amaimon is your true Father, if even Satan can have human children then its easy for someone like Amaimon to have as well"

Harry realised it did make a lot of sense, and explained the super fight with Lupin as a werewolf, before realising something else, "IF AMAIMON IS REALLY MY FATHER THEN WERE IS HE? I'VE SPENT THE LAST THIRTEEN YEARS LIVING WITH THE DURSLEY'S WHO HATE ME AND THINK I'M A FREAK!"

Mephisto's eyes widened in shock at that, but harry wasn't finished yet.

"WHERE WAS HE WHEN HIS BEST FRIEND, SIRIUS BLACK, WENT TO AZKABAN FOR A CRIME HE DIDN'T COMMIT?, WHERE WAS HE WHEN EVERYONE THOUGHT I'D OPENED THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS?, WHERE WAS HE WHEN I NEARLY DIED FIGHTING A BASILISK?, WHERE WAS HE WHEN I FACED VOLDEMORT AGAIN IN MY FIRST YEAR AT HOGWARTS?... TELL ME!" Harry roared, the ground beneath them cracked and bucked.

Harry broke then, tears falling down his face, "Did he hate me? was i not good enough?... why'd he stay away? if i'm really his son... was he disappointed in me and so he didn't bother coming back"

Mephisto sighed and placed a hand on his nephews shoulder, "No, he was so happy he and lily had you... but when he came back to Gehenna after he 'died' he just wasn't the same, he was broken... still is really... we lost our brother that day, it was someone else who came back... we sent Astaroth to check if either of you made it, we found your mothers body, but with the damage to the crib and nursery we assumed that there was no body to find of yours, we all thought you'd died"

Harry looked at him sharply, "My... father... thinks i'm dead?"

"Yes, the exorcists prefer to have nothing to do with Witches and Wizards, so we don't keep up with their news just as much as they don't with ours, we had no way of knowing you'd actually survived evidently this is a mistake, its time we get more involved, in-fact I'll be pitching it to the Vatican as soon as possible"

"But... but... where is he?... we've got to tell him... i have to see him-" Harry stammered.

"How soon can you be ready to leave?" Mephisto interrupted.

"20 minutes maybe" he answered automatically, before realising what had been asked "wait... what? leave?"

"Of course, Amaimon joined the exorcist order and is currently stationed at True cross Town, the base of operations for Tokyo, which is where we need to go, I've got a private plan waiting for me at Heathrow"

"I-I-I Don't have a passport" Harry muttered dejectedly.

"I can have that sorted by the time your ready to go" Mephisto said, waving off his concerns.

Harry stuttered for a few more seconds before bursting out with "When can we leave? How long will it take to get there? what about the language i don't speak Japanese? what will i say to him-"

"Whoa, whoa kid slow down... we can leave as soon as your ready, it will take roughly twelve hours, most people speak English anyway because its a mandatory language in schools and we can teach you Japanese (demons can pick things like that up a lot easier), and don't worry about explanations because I'll deal with it"

Harry calmed down and re-wrapped his tail around his waist, "I can be ready to leave in 15-20 minutes depending on the attitudes of my...'Relatives' " he spat the last word out with no small amounts of disgust.

"I'll explain the situation to them, well not the truthful version, and you can return 1 to 2 weeks before hogwarts starts to get your school stuff"

"Ein, Zwei, Drei" He called and snapped his fingers again, everything started up again, as if it was a DVD placed on pause, Harry stared around, his jaw dropping as the cracks in the ground disappeared as if they'd never been there.

"Lets go then!" Mephisto called out and Walked off.

Harry hurried after him, a truly happy smile breaking out on his face for the first time since before he'd inflated 'Aunt' Marge.

* * *

It wasn't long until they came to number 4 privet drive, it was nearly pitch black now.

The purple haired King of time, knocked on the door loudly, they heard muffled voices and a dark shape was moving behind the glass.

It was Vernon who opened the door, "What do you want at this time of night, we don't want whatever your selling"

"No, No you misunderstand me, i'm here about your Nephew" Mephisto said as he yanked Harry in-front of him by the back of his t-shirt. Harry glared at him.

"What's the boy done now?" Vernon said gruffly.

"Nothing I assure you, but this would be better discussed inside" Mephisto said cheerily, the narrowing of his eyes was the only indication that he was fighting the urge to rip the fat man's throat out for speaking about his (recently re-discovered) nephew like that.

Vernon gruffly agreed and led them through to the kitchen, Indicating the white-clad man should sit whilst he went to get Petunia.

When they came back in and sat down, looking very much like there were other things they'd rather be doing, Mephisto propped his head up on his arm.

"The reason I am here is simple, I was James Potters second cousin, and I have recently discovered he had a son, we weren't very close but family is family after all, I am here to offer Harry a place in the summer classes at my school, you see my name is Johann Faust the principal of True Cross Academy-" The Dursley's drew in shocked gasps at that "-and yes I know all about magic, in fact that is the main reason I am here, you see at Hogwarts they do not offer any of the normal classes such as Maths and Science, so in other words Harry will be very behind when he graduates from Hogwarts. That's where I come in, during the summer he can keep up with his regular schooling. He should return 1 to 2 weeks before he's due back at Hogwarts... well, that's that, go get your stuff Harry"

"H-hang on a m-minute we can't afford the tuition fees for True Cross." Vernon stammered.

"That's fine, i'm paying" Mephisto said not even missing a beat. He opened his phone and began speaking in rapid Japanese into it.

Ignoring Vernon's spluttering Harry sprinted out of the room and up the stairs, as soon as he reached his room he began haphazardly throwing things in his trunk, he let Hedwig out and told her to stay with his friends because he thought there was no way she'd be able to fly all the way to Japan, when he was done he raced downstairs and dumped his stuff by the door. He then walked into the kitchen as calmly as he could, whilst he felt like bursting with excitement.

"Ready to go?" Mephisto asked, Harry nodded "Good, your passport's sorted, and a cars coming"

Harry marvelled at how fast he'd managed that.

* * *

BEEP! BEEP!

"There's the car... lets go" Mephisto said, Harry hurried after him, leaving the still shell-shocked Dursley's behind.

Once they were outside Mephisto sighed, "What awful humans..."

Harry merely nodded and jogged after the king of time who due to being 6"5 could walk sedately and cover a long distance very quickly.

* * *

It takes roughly 1 hour 20 minutes to get to central London from Surrey.

It was mainly spent in silence broken only by Mephisto's humming, Harry was silently begging that this wasn't some elaborate dream that he'd wake up from in an hour or so... it all seemed so surreal.

Not only was his real father alive, but he was a demon king and currently an Exorcist. Plus Harry was going to be staying at the most prestigious school in the world, while he meets his father. It was a lot to take in, especially in just one day.

"Um... what do I actually call you?" Harry asked timidly.

Mephisto smirked at him, "Confusing isn't it?... you can call me Mephisto or Uncle or both... don't really mind, as long as its not Samael" He said the last bit with distaste.

Harry nodded and they fell back into silence.

* * *

When Harry saw the private jet he very nearly face vaulted, it was mainly white but it had pink and purple polka dots on it and the inside was similarly decorated.

'this will definitely take some getting used to' Harry mused.

It was a rather long flight, 11 hours and 50 minutes. At first Mephisto spent it getting the story of how he'd survived from Harry until Harry fell asleep 2 hours in and didn't wake until there was only 20 minutes left, his hair was consequently stuck up vertically on one side, Mephisto laughed at his attempts to get it back under control, whilst Harry scowled.

It was about 3 o'clock when they arrived in Tokyo.

When they got off the plane there was a Pink limousine waiting for them, 'I will never understand his tastes' Harry thought vehemently.

It was a short drive to True Cross Town, this wasn't spent in silence, Harry spent it grilling his uncle for information on the Exorcists and demons, now he wasn't tired or entirely shell-shocked his curiosity was insatiable.

"we should be able to see the town any minute now" Mephisto said suddenly cutting off another question.

He was right... Harry's mouth dropped open, it was immense... it was built up as if on a mountain surrounded by a water on most sides only able to accessed by bridges, and by Train, much of the True Cross town seemed to defy gravity and it was massive, there was architecture from all across the globe, towers and spires stretching up to the heavens, there was a humongous forest on one side that seemed to blend with the buildings and creep up towards the top, the entire structure was a mass of so many colours, and shapes that just seemed impossible. It was incredibly intricate and he couldn't believe it wasn't kept up with magic, he thought the Weasley's house was bad for breaking the laws of physics but this was on a whole other level entirely...

"Wow..." he said faintly, transfixed by the sight of the town.

Mephisto laughed at him again.

* * *

It wasn't long before they had reached and crossed the bridge heading into the town, Harry still had his head practically pressed against the window desperately trying to take in all of the town.

At the checkpoint the exorcists checked the car and let them through, doing a double take at Harry obviously thinking he was Amaimon, before getting a better look.

As they drove through the town Harry marvelled at all the different sights, whist Mephisto was wondering how exactly they were going to phrase their current predicament to his little brother and creating schemes to get custody of his Nephew from those... people... Amaimon was going to flip when he finds out who his son is living with, Mephisto sighed.

* * *

They walked swiftly through the halls and epic passage ways, Harry desperately trying to look at every thing at once, Mephisto scowling at the thought of the 'pleasant' conversation he would soon have with his brother, he needed to word it so his brother didn't lose his head and break something or some things, and cost him thousands in repairs.

They reached the room where the exorcists hung out when not on duty. His brothers and some of the other exorcists should be inside, the summer holidays had just begun and so all of the normal students had left, plus all the current exorcist students were in the middle of their exam to become exwires, supervised by many fully fledged exorcists.

"Wait out here" Mephisto instructed.

Harry nodded meekly, the nerves were beginning to set in, and he was getting very worried.

The white clad man grabbed the door handle and opened the door, he steeled himself before walking in.

He spotted the green hair immediately, luckily the person it belonged to was sat on one of the couch's nearest the door, Rin and Yukio were sat with him, along with Bon and Konekomaru.

He walked over, they looked up at him.

"Aniue, how was En... Your trip?" Amaimon asked, Mephisto ignored how for his brother it was still too much for him to say England.

"Eventful..." Mephisto muttered.

"What's happened?" Rin asked "I've never seen you look that serious... Even when Satan tried to take over the world"

Mephisto sighed, "Amaimon..." he got his brothers attention "There's... been a development recently... and before i tell you, I'll warn you to let me finish, before jumping to conclusions-" The green haired demon nodded, sitting up from where he'd been lounging sprawled across a sofa, "-We made a mistake... a big mistake... Amaimon, what you've got to understand is we've never had much contact with the Wizarding society and so we had no way of knowing..."

"What's this about?" Amaimon asked, cutting to the chase.

"Its... about that night" He really didn't have to elaborate on that, Amaimon visibly flinched, "Otouto... Harry survived"

He leapt of the couch, his eyes blazing and fists clenched as he grabbed Mephisto by his polka dot ascot, yanking him down to look him in the eye. "WHAT?"

"He survived, someone got him out before we went to check, they're calling him the boy-who-lived, the Killing curse re-bounded off of him and basically destroyed voldemort"

Amaimon just stared at him, before bursting out "What are we still here for? we've got to find him, he's probably with Padfoot or Remus, We've got to see him, explain... we need to go NOW!"

"I already found him" Mephisto continued ignoring Amaimons incredulous look "On the way back from the meeting we came across a demon attack and he was stood right there, Wizarding Wand and all, he looks a lot like you..."

"Well if you know where he is lets go get him!" Rin said jumping up.

"He's already here... YOU CAN COME IN NOW!" he called out.

* * *

Harry heard his uncle calling him, and put a trembling hand on the door handle, he turned it, and pushed open the door.

His eyes were instantly drawn to the figure with green hair so much alike his, the person in question looked about 18-20 and had bright Cyan eyes, he was an average height of 5"8 and was wearing a brown-ish, burgundy coat with bone crosses and buttons that was ripped at the ends, adorned with the classic Exorcist badge on the right side, over a white waist coat, yellow tie and stripy shirt, with green arm warmers. He had just released Mephisto from his iron grip.

'so this is my father... my true one...'

He walked slowly over, painfully aware everyone else in the Room who he didn't actually know were watching the exchange with interest.

"Harry..." the green haired man mumbled.

Harry looked at him, and eyes widened in shock when he was suddenly pulled into what most people would consider a bone-crushing hug. He buried his face in his father chest and wrapped his arms around him.

"Harry... i'm so sorry... i didn't know you were..." He broke off sounding choked.

"your here now that's what's important..." Harry mumbled. They stood like that for a minute or so.

Eventually he was released, but Amaimon still kept one hand on his shoulder, as if to make sure he wasn't a dream or Hallucination that would disappear the moment he let go.

"Have you been with Padfoot?" He asked.

"No... Sirius was framed for selling you and mum out to voldemort, everyone thought he was the secret keeper and that he killed Peter Pettigrew alongside of 13 muggles"

Amaimon stared in shock, "Did Alice Longbottom or Remus take you in then?" he asked, filling away the stuff about Sirius for later.

"No, Dumbledore put me with the Dursley's" Harry said somewhat hesitantly.

"WHAT?... THE DURSLEY'S?... I'LL KILL DUMBLEDORE! what was he thinking? those pathetic stupid muggles of all people... why? and what's happened since then, how was living with them? and what's this boy-who-lived stuff about?"

'this is going to take i while...' Harry thought, as he began to explain...

* * *

**we finally get to the important stuff! at last! well... more interesting stuff.**

**thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hello! XD**

**Thanks for all the support guys!**

**I got some more answers for you: Voldemort won't catch harry off guard he'll get Cedric instead and just make do with what he's got, originally I was going to have Voldemort still get harry and consequently end up with partial demon blood so he could summon demons and stuff, but I decided against it he'll use creatures like vampires, inferi, zombies, werewolf's and other creatures like that, the horcruxes will be better protected though to make it more interesting.**

**Amaimon and Mephisto find out about the horcrux in the scar after that dream of Harry's where Voldemort kills that muggle in little hangleton, they know its a soul piece and in True Cross style they exorcise it, but they don't know that its called a Horcrux or that voldemort has more... yet.**

**Harry will stop Luna from being bullied at some point fourth year, instead of meeting on the train fifth year, and so he eventually asks her to the ball.**

**As well as the classic wand and a sword (he'll be using senbonzakura) and he'll also use dual pistols.**

**And harry will get some serious training and learn how to totally kick a**, and he will be an awesome exorcist, fourth year is gonna be awesome.**

**Someone made a very good point in the reviews, the demon forms are so far non threatening so the king cobra won't work, I'm just going to make him a hamster like Amaimon because Its just simpler.**

**for his training, I'll only include the important parts like first lessons then I'll flash back where i need to fourth year, just so its more interesting and there's not loads of repeated stuff. **

**Like I said, thanks for all the support, you guys are awesome!**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter! XD**

* * *

Chapter 8

When Harry had finally finished telling this Father and Uncles the whole story Amaimon was ready to rip dumbledore and the Dursley's limb from limb (for incompetence and child cruelty respectively), and apparently there would be a queue because Mephisto, Rin and Yukio would be right behind him. Bon and Koneko looked surely tempted as well.

"So Sirius escaped from Azkaban and is now on the run, correct?" Mephisto asked, trying to steer the Dursley's out of the conversation before one of them did something stupid.

"Yeah, where the hell he is i don't know, because he's worried about the birds being intercepted"

"Dumbledore should have suggested the use of Veritasium or a Pensieve it would easily have proved that he was innocent" Amaimon said, chewing on his long black nail.

"What are they?" Harry asked curiously.

"A truth serum and a memory viewer" Mephisto answered.

"Oh... wait, why could Dumbledore suggest that?"

"He's chief warlock of the Wizengamot, he's sort of like an impartial judge with a lot of power... that on top of the influence he already has besides that he could easily see to it that Sirius got a fair trail"

"But then... why didn't he?"

"Don't know... maybe he was positive that Sirius was the traitor, people like that are so often believed and told to be correct all the time that sometimes they forget that they can still make mistakes" Amaimon said thoughtfully.

"Didn't know you could be so wise" Rin laughed, the green haired man glared at him.

"But he's supposed to be the greatest wizard of all time... how could he mess up something that bad?"

"Wise words of warning there is always someone better" Mephisto said.

Harry tilted his head slightly, thinking, before nodding and then yawning widely, showing off his fangs.

"Its time some one gets to bed" Amaimon said with a laugh.

* * *

With that they went their separate ways, the exorcists to their own accommodations, and Amaimon and Mephisto led them to Mephisto's mansion.

"This is where you live!?" Harry burst out, upon seeing the Knights of True Cross top level; Johann Faust's mansion.

It was a massive complex of connected buildings in an Italian style, there were three huge square towers towards the back each topped with a dome and a steeple, the main one had a cross at the very tip. It was kind of Gothic there were black accents decorating it with crosses everywhere. They were currently stood in a large courtyard with a immense sized fountain. It was at the very top of the True Cross Town, the road up to it spiralled around the Town, it must be the most easily defend-able position in the whole place, you could see around for miles.

"Why yes of course" Mephisto quipped in his usual excited tone.

"It is rather impressive isn't it?" Amaimon said.

"Just a bit" Harry said "Do you two just live here by yourselves?"

"Well yeah, we've got servants who work here by day of course" Amaimon answered.

"Oh, of course" Harry replied sarcastically.

* * *

Inside it was just as Harry expected as soon as he saw the mansion, it was very grandiose and impressive, it even had crystal chandeliers, Marble floors and dark hardwood furniture. They had a quick tour of the most important places before heading to the corridors where the main bedrooms are. He nearly did a double take when they passed Mephisto's room though, it was full to the brim with merchandise (that he was later told was from anime, Mephisto looked ready to have a heart attack when he said he didn't know what it was, as soon as he found out though he was quickly hooked), his fathers room was filled with plants in various sized pots, and more merchandise, but one wall was covered in bladed weapons. His room was next door, it had a huge king sized bed and a massive wardrobe among the other usual furniture, what was unusual though was the massive flat screen TV on one side of the room in-front of a large couch.

Normally this would have dropped his jaw but he was too tired.

"Well this is your room... and don't worry about your so called family, you probably won't ever have to go back to the Dursley's after this year, we'll fix it" Mephisto said as he left.

"Get some rest we'll talk in the morning" Amaimon said departing with a hug.

"Okay..." he answered with a yawn.

His bed felt like he was sleeping on clouds, it was incredibly soft, as soon as his head hit the pillow he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

He was awoken by knocking on his door.

"Wha?" he mumbled.

He heard the door creak open, and soft footsteps walk towards him.

"Your as bad as your father" Mephisto commented as he looked at Harry completely sprawled out across the bed, and raising a very bleary eye up at him.

"Well up and at em, we've got important things to discuss this morning, its half past ten already, we'll see you in the Kitchen"

"Okay" he mumbled.

Mephisto laughed slightly as he walked out to wake Amaimon and to tell him to go get Rin and Yukio.

* * *

Harry grumbled as he got up, he hadn't even noticed last night but he'd slept in his clothes, he was pleased to find the wardrobe nearly full and once again marvelled at his uncles planning ability's as everything was the correct size.

He put on jeans and a baseball t-shirt before walking out to find his father and uncle.

He was very glad that Hogwarts layout was much more complicated or he'd have never memorized the way down to the foyer and then to the kitchen, (which was ridiculously large).

Amaimon, Mephisto, and Yukio were already seated at a long table, Rin was cooking alongside of what he was positive was a demon.

"Oh, there you are Harry, good... oh and this is Ukobach-" the little purple and white demon with Rin waved at him "- what we've got to discuss is your future living arrangements, the only way to get you out of custody of your 'relatives' is to arrange it with your ministry of magic who will of course fix it with the Japanese ministry (who will be ecstatic to have you in there country) but we all know that the British ministry will not let go of you that easily, you being the... what was it?... BWL, however there is one other way that will also prevent any nasty surprises from the Vatican at a later date... its rather simple, you become an exorcist for the Knights of True Cross, they are rather more open to the Half-bloods after Rin and Yukio not to mention your Father and Uncle are already Exorcists with a rather high rank, which opens the door for you... you see you become an Exorcist get tons of training and you can basically take on anything all guns blazing... as an Exorcist of the True cross you are exempt from most ordinary rules and the Vatican can easily go over the heads of the Ministry and assign custody to Johann Faust, AKA me."

"So... to get away from the Dursley's forever all i have to do is become an Exorcist?... what about the whole wizard thing? i thought Exorcists don't like them..." Harry said.

"Yes, they don't like the fact that wizards can see most if not all demons and know that they attack mundane humans but do nothing to stop them or interfere, all they do is go around erasing memories... when you get a Witch or in this case Wizard who actually wants to learn to deal with demons and help others then they are welcomed with open arms as magic can become very useful, in-fact the current paladin can use a fair bit of magic and learned to do it wandlessly... of course not many spells effect any kind of demons above low-level but it is rather useful for menial tasks and the very low levels without wasting bullets."

"Okay... where do i sign up?" he said cheerfully, as Rin and Ukobach set plates full of a traditional Japanese breakfast in-front of them.

After Amaimon had shown him how to use the chopsticks, Mephisto said, "we'll use one of the special doors and go directly to the Vatican and get you put into the training program already as an Esquire or Exwire (depending on what you call it), skipping Page entirely because of course you can do a fair bit of magic and are still in training for that (the Patronus charm will get us a lot brownie points) and you fought a werewolf and won, you might not have known what you were doing but there is clearly untapped potential there. Its very simple... you stand there and look as innocent as possible, answer questions when asked and I'll do the majority of the talking"

"Sounds good to me" Harry mumbled, as he struggled with the chopsticks.

"You'll be fine, they let me be one, and I once broke in the Vatican and got right to the main council chambers, injuring i don't know how many exorcists in the process and they still let me in" Amaimon commented whilst fixing how Harry was falling at holding the chopsticks. "And your'll get used to the chopsticks pretty quickly, it just takes a bit at first"

"Well I hope so, this is bloody annoying" Harry snapped glaring at his new eating utensils.

The others just laughed at him.

"What would you like to study in?" Rin asked.

"Huh?" was Harry's intelligent reply.

"Oh, you wouldn't know would you... you see the exorcists are separated into different categories as well as rank, there is: an ordinary Knight; who uses a sword or similar weapon, Dragoon Knight; who uses firearms, a Tamer or Hand Knight; they summon demons to fight for them, an Aria or Chanter Knight; who uses incantations and holy passages to exorcise demons back to Gehenna, or a Doctor or Medic Knight; who are basically field medics" Yukio informed him.

"Oh... can you be more than one?" he asked.

"Of course, me and Aniue just usually fall into the Knight Category because we would cover lots of things if labelled, Yukio is a Dragoon, Aria and Doctor where as Rin is a Knight because he uses a sword" Amaimon answered.

"hmm... Knight with a sword probably, it sounds cool-" he started, "it would be handy for school, your actually allowed to carry swords around, its in the rule book going back to the time of Godric Griffindor, who was an accomplished swordsman" Amaimon interrupted, "Really? that would definitely be handy, but maybe Dragoon too, just in case." Harry continued.

"Sounds like a good set of skills, of course your father will be teaching you to control your natural powers but i'm sure Rin would be willing to teach you the art of swordsmanship and Yukio should have no problem teaching you how to shoot" Mephisto said, just as they were finishing their meal.

"I've got one question though... why do Rin and Yukio look so young, I thought Amaimon was banished when they were 15, so they should be like 49 shouldn't they?" Harry asked, the one question that had been bugging him since he met them.

"Oh... you don't know?... Half-bloods don't age normally, when your powers settle completely around 18-20 you tend to stay like that for a considerable while, some of the mid-class Half-bloods don't start showing ageing until around anywhere between 50 and 100, with us (and subsequently you) being sons (and Grandson respectively) of Satan, the god of demons, we don't know when it will look like we've aged" Rin said.

"Well that kinda sucks... so we can't have really have a relationship with anyone then can we? we'll just outlive them... along with all our friends" Harry muttered.

"Not true. There is a sort of blood ritual that will give whoever you choose to be your mate the same lifespan as you, if you die before them then they start to age in normal years, of course you can't do anything about friends though" Mephisto stated. "Rin did the ritual with Shiemi, a Tamer and Doctor exorcist that you'll probably meet later on... Yukio's not found anyone yet"

"Thanks for telling the kid our love lives" The twins muttered under their breath.

The others just laughed.

* * *

Once breakfast was over Mephisto led Harry towards the door connected to the Vatican, deep in the centre of the True Cross Town. Amaimon followed them.

"I can take care of this myself you know" Mephisto said to his brother, "Don't you have anything to do?"

"No I don't Aniue, besides Harry's my son, this does concern me after all" Amaimon said putting his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I wasn't debating whether it concerned you or not... I was merely stating he'll be fine either way"

"Whatever" his otouto said, Mephisto's eye twitched.

* * *

It was very weird to open one door and it was nearly late afternoon on the other side whilst on your side it was the still morning.

"Odd isn't it?" His Father asked, reading his expression.

"it is a bit... dad" Harry replied stumbling a bit over the 'Dad' part, 'I'm really going to have to get used to that'

Amaimon gave him a small smile, before returning to his usual stoic expression. He grabbed his son's wrist and led him after Mephisto, who had apparently arranged this meeting in advance, because when they got there the whole council of the Grigori was assembled.

Harry started to tremble a bit 'What if this goes wrong?'

Amaimon laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"You said this meeting was important Mephisto" One of the ones in the cowls said.

"Yes, we are here to discuss a very important matter about a Wizard-" he was cut off when lots of Exorcists began talking at once wondering what the significance of this was, so he raised his voice "-I know what your thinking, but this Wizard wants to join our order but is still currently enrolled at Hogwarts and our current trainees have already become Exwires, that's not just it though... he's Amaimon's son-" there was an instant uproar, Harry hid slightly behind his Father as everyone began shouting various ways to pleasantly say 'what the hell?!'.

"What do you mean his son? we weren't aware he had a son..." A fairly oldish man with long blonde hair filled with streaks of grey said, he had quite a few wrinkles but still looked very strong.

"Thats the current Paladin, Arthur A Angel." Amaimon whispered to him.

"He wasn't aware either..." Mephisto sighed. "It'll be better if he explains actually"

Amaimon walked forward and after a moments hesitation began to tell them the full story.

* * *

When Amaimon had finished, quite a few members (particularly some of the older members of the Grigori) were looking at him and Harry in something akin to Pity, the others were looking faintly disturbed, not at all happy with this Voldemort character.

"And this... Voldemort is still around?" Angel asked.

"Yes, and no... I stayed out of the Magic world, all I knew was he disappeared... Harry can fill you in better than me"

"Come up here then boy" One of the cowled ones said.

Amaimon stepped down off the podium and Harry walked over timidly, and up to the platform.

"So tell us about voldemort and this... Sirius Black who recently escaped azkaban, the Ministry only saw fit to tell us he'd escaped and nothing else, i assume your better informed" Angel instructed.

Harry gulped before telling them about the philosophers stone and the diary and finally the Dementors, Peter and Sirius.

"So you can produce a Corporeal Patronus?... at 14 that is very impressive, it is a Newt level or higher skill" Angel said approvingly.

"The fact that this was allowed to happen at a school is very disturbing, it is definitely time to get more involved. Also those... defences, during your first year, one of them being a huge chess set... there is a chance it was a set up... considering your this Boy-who-lived, it was more than likely some kind of test" a female voice said from within the cowl of one of the highest members of the Grigori. "If that is the case we really need to watch this Dumbledore, after all you were only eleven"

Harry looked shocked before narrowing his eyes, 'how could dumbledore lie like that?'

"So you want to be an Exorcist?" Angel asked, filing Voldemort, Black and Dumbledore away for later.

"Yeah, I saw Mephisto and two others save this woman from Coal tar entity-thing-" some of the Grigori members laughed at his description of the demon "- We don't learn how to deal with this things, the most we've done at school is Grindylows and I don't even know if that's their proper name, but if, especially in cities, we see demons are we just supposed to walk past and ignore it if someone's hurt by these things... its not right!"

Quite a few members nodded to what he was saying.

One of the Head members, said "I Propose we accept Harry James Potter, the Earth Kings Son, as an Esquire in the Order, he will be trained during the summer and return to school each September, he will have to get mission experience during the summer also... all in favour?"

Nearly every member raised their hands, Harry sighed in Relief.

"On that subject... is there a way we can get young Harry here away from his... mothers relatives" Mephisto asked speaking the last words with disgust.

"Are we missing something?" Angel asked, bewildered.

"Its a classic case of child abuse, he slept in a cupboard under the stairs for eleven years and is treated like a slave... we want him out, it should be fairly simple to give custody over to me should it not?" Mephisto said, not beating around the bush, ignoring Harry looking at the ground embarrassed and Amaimon looking ready to march out the door and murder the people in question. Angel narrowed his eyes, and several others let out shocked gasps, or angry growls, it doesn't matter who the kid is, its wrong.

"Did they hit you?" Angel asked. He growled slightly as the rather small for his age boy, who looked a bit underweight, nodded his green shaggy head without looking up.

"They don't like magic" The boy in question muttered.

There was a rather large pause before many began muttering angrily, that was no reason to treat a kid like that, magic or not.

"We will have an Exorcist sort it," The main three Grigori said "if there is nothing else this meeting is adjourned"

* * *

Harry sighed in Relief as soon as he was out the door.

"See it wasn't that bad was it?" Mephisto said cheerily.

"Maybe for you Uncle" Harry said, glaring at him lightly.

"You did fine" Amaimon reassured him, slipping his arm around his son's shoulder. "sure did, kid" Mephisto agreed ruffling his hair.

It was then that they noticed Angel walking towards them.

"Well, i'd like to be the first to Welcome to the Order of True Cross Knights Harry" He said "My name is Arthur A Angel, the Paladin of the Order. It will be good to have more magic users in the Order, especially one skilled enough to produce a Corporeal Patronus Charm at just 14, if your interested in learning wandless Magic next year I can be stationed at True Cross and will be able to teach you at least the basics."

Amaimon and Mephisto stared at Angel in shock, not expecting something like that from the Paladin.

"I'd love to learn Wandless casting, my friend Hermione said it was near impossible, not even Dumbledore's very good at it" Harry said instantly.

Angel laughed at his enthusiasm. "Do you know what you want to be a Meister in yet?"

"Knight and Dragoon, i think"

"What kind of sword will you use?" Angel asked quite interested, "The art of the Sword is somewhat diminished nowadays, it will be good to see more Exorcists taking the Knight path."

"we've got one in mind for him, Demon sword of course, very sentient, we don't know what form it takes yet, the wielder needs to meditate with the sword to link with it and sync with it" Amaimon said.

"Well good luck with your training, oh... and a word of warning, we have recently been informed that the Triwizard tournament is taking place next school year, they've asked for a representative to stay at Hogwarts throughout the year, so there will be minor demons involved. We have yet to decide on who to send but there will be one there... the Tournament used to have too high of a death toll so it was stopped, however now they have started it back up again, the other schools Beaubatons and Durmstrang will be staying at hogwarts also. Judging by your other years you should be exceptionally careful this year"

With that said Angel departed.

"Wow, never would've expected something like that from him of all people" Amaimon said, staring at the spot where the Paladin had stood.

"Maybe he realised how much of a mistake he made with Rin and Yukio and didn't want to repeat it" Mephisto suggested also staring confusedly where he'd stood, Before walking off cape swishing behind him.

The other two hurried after the King of Time and struggled to keep up with his brisk pace.

* * *

Soon enough they were back in True Cross town.

They walked to Mephisto's office, when they were inside, they waited patiently in-front of Mephisto's desk.

"Right, now that's sorted... we discuss your schedule, on weekdays, in the mornings you'll be working on sword fighting and seals with Rin and Miss Shura Kirigakure, in the afternoon you'll work with Yukio on shooting and Demonology, in the evenings I'll teach you languages (starting with Japanese of course), on weekends you'll spend all day with Amaimon training with your powers, and language class as usual, that fine?"

Harry nodded.

"Good, now considering its Sunday you might as well start on your power training... well go on then, I've got tons of paperwork to do" Mephisto said with a sigh.

"Okay Aniue" Amaimon mumbled around the lollipop in his mouth.

He gestured for Harry to follow him and walked out the door, Mephisto raised a hand in Farewell, as he began signing the various documents that littered his desk.

They seemed to wander aimlessly for a while, despite the fact Amaimon knew where he was going, before coming to a large Forest behind the Academy.

"This is the Forest, which has always been left unnamed, during the day time it's perfectly safe however during the night time it is very active with demons... all low level mind you, most are just Greenmen and Hobgoblins however there are also lots of Chuchi that were raised by Exorcists, Because of the demons its the perfect place for mission training, in-fact the Exwire's are on one training mission now, we'll stay out of their way but it would be good for you to see them in action. Its the perfect place to train you because of all the earth and plants, which is our domain of course, we'll start simply... and work on stamina, your first task is to keep up with me." Amaimon said before sprinting into the forest.

Harry stared for a few minutes before registering what his father had said and ran after him.

Trees and bushes blurred past them as they ran, Harry only 10 metres behind Amaimon was struggling to keep up. 'I am really out of shape' he thought.

He spurned himself on as he saw the gap between them get bigger, they ran uphill for what seemed like ages, Amaimon occasionally stopping to let Harry get his breath back, before eventually coming upon a clearing.

The Earth King came to a halt so suddenly, Harry ran straight into the back of him. "Ow..." he mumbled, it was like hitting a brick wall.

"Amaimon!" Someone called, "What's up? does Mephisto-San what us back early?" It was a young woman with Blonde shoulder length hair, she said all this in Japanese, so Harry (whilst breathing very heavily) looked at her bewildered.

"Iie," Amaimon said before switching back to English, "I'm just here to train him". Gesturing behind him, the exorcists looked curiously at the kid.

Shiemi got the idea that obviously the green haired kid couldn't speak Japanese, 'WAIT green haired kid!'

"Who's this? and why's he so out of breath?"

"He's out of breath because he's out of shape," Amaimon said flicking Harry on the forehead, "And his names Harry"

"hello..." Harry managed to get out, "And any normal person would be out of breath if they ran all the way here"

"Eh? you made some poor kid run all the way here! that's mean Amaimon! it's such a hard path even when walking" Shiemi scolded.

Amaimon looked at her blankly, "He fought a werewolf and won, I just assumed he was healthy enough to run up here... besides you're not normal" he said, directing the last part at Harry.

"Okay you've got me there" Harry mumbled.

"EHHHHH? this little kid fought a werewolf?!" Shiemi exclaimed at the top of her voice "You poor thing!" she exclaimed, pulling the green haired kid into a smothering hug.

Amaimon carefully extracted his Son from the Woman's iron grip. "Besides he's my Son, he will be able to handle that kind of run easily once he's trained a bit."

"Son? SON?!" by now one of the other Exorcists had walked over, she had purple hair, red-ish eyes and looked middle aged, she stared at them in shock.

"I'll tell you later, right now I need to set Harry on a task" Amaimon said calmly ignoring their incredulous faces. "Right Harry, what you need to do is meditate, look deep inside yourself and find your power core, it should look like a bright light, your mind might subconsciously try to trick you with dark forests or endless oceans as a defence mechanism... but remember it is your mind, you are in control, you should eventually find yourself in your mindscape (Also called inner world) its a reflection of you as a person. To meditate you should block everything else out and focus on nothing let your mind be blank and filled with nothing, you got it?"

"I think so" Harry mumbled.

"Good, pick a spot near the edge of the Forest and sit down cross legged, lay you hands palm up on your knees and begin" Amaimon instructed.

"Kay" he muttered, still a little out of breath.

He wandered over and sat on a large stone and began his first attempt at meditating.

Amaimon walked over and sat in the camp with Shiemi and Izumo, although his eyes never left Harry as he told them the whole story, Ignoring the other Exwire's listening in.

Harry tried to shut out all the noise around him and look for the light he'd seen last year during the Dementor attacks. It was really hard to shut out everything and let his mind be blank. His head kept wandering. He sighed...'this is really difficult'

"Oww!" something hit his forehead, he opened his eyes and noticed his father had thrown a pebble at him.

"Focus!" he said.

Harry calmly picked the pebble up and hurled it back at him, whacking him the side of the head, "I am focusing!"

Amaimon sighed, as the pebble bounced off his head, "You need to ignore everything going on around you and look only to yourself... Breath calmly and deeply, when frustration begins to creep in focus on your breath and let the frustration go, if it helps imagine a black circle and feel yourself sink into that circle."

Harry grumbled but did as asked, creating the black circle was easy enough, and he focused on that and nothing else.

He began to think it wasn't working and opened his eyes to let his Father know just what he thought about meditation, when he found himself in a wild landscape of mountains covered in thick forests, they were in a valley, where there was an extensive (yet calm) lake and stood nearby there was a large pavilion built in traditional Japanese style, it was night time there was a large moon shining on the horizon, bathing the entire mountain in light.

"Dad!... if this is your idea of a prank it isn't funny" his words echoed around him.

"Great! just Great!" he snapped as he began to look around.

There was a dead tree on the grassy shore of the lake, which he ignored, he walked towards the building and began to explore.

It was as extensive as Mephisto's mansion, and that was saying something, 'I wonder if this is one of those defence's dad spoke about, or is this my mindscape... well I have no idea how this place reflects me at all, maybe it's judged by other factors too'.

Eventually he came to a sliding door and he could see a strange light emanating from it. He slid it open and contained within the confines of the room was the green light, Harry after a moments hesitation walked in.

* * *

Amaimon was still sat with Shiemi and Izumo, Harry had been in a fairly good meditative state for about 20 minutes.

He was making small talk but his eyes never left Harry's Prone form. Shiemi smiled at him knowingly, whilst Izumo huffed at being ignored.

His eyes widened as a soft green glow emanated from his Son, before he smiled slightly. "That was quick, usually it takes longer for people to connect with their magical core."

He walked over as he began to stir.

Harry opened his eyes and stretched, unbalancing himself and falling face first off the rock he had apparently forgot he was sitting on.

To Amaimon's credit he didn't laugh and just offered him a hand up, which his son gratefully took.

"Its nearly lunch time, we might as well eat and then get started"

Harry nodded and followed him over to the others.

* * *

"Nē, anata no namae wa nanidesu ka?" One of the Exwire's asked, he had messy dark brown Hair and three piercings in each ear, he looked very anti-social.

"Huh?"

"He asked what your name was" Amaimon told him.

"Oh... Harry Potter" he said.

"Sorry I forgot you didn't speak Japanese..." said the teen, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly " Ryunosuke Suguro, but you can call me Ryu"**  
**

"Nice to meet you Ryu"

* * *

Lunch was soon over and their conversations ended.

Amaimon walked to the edge of the clearing with Harry following.

"So Dad... what are you teaching me?" Harry asked curiously bouncing up and down on his heals.

"This" was all Amaimon said as he kicked up his heel and two big rocks shot up out of the ground, Harry stared open mouthed. "Now, Watch carefully"

He punched a Rock and it flew away from him, easily 20 feet and knocked a tree over.

Harry and the Exwire's who'd been watching had to Pick their jaws up off the ground.

"Thats what I'll be teaching you, eventually, as well as controlling plants, but that's a lot harder so we probably won't get to that until next year" Amaimon said "For now i'm going to teach you to move a rock... mainly Blindfolded"

"Wait... why blindfolded?"

"You will need to learn to sense vibrations in the ground and so can predict any attack, sensing it before hand"

"Why do I feel like i'm not going to like this..."

"This will be hard training, but it will be worth it... to start with you need to be as steady as a rock in your stance, Earth is a stubborn element so you need to be as steady as a rock yourself to move one..."

* * *

And that was how Harry spent his first day training, having Rocks thrown at him and dodging them blindfolded (to extend his senses... he took quite a few attempts to get that right) playing an elaborate version of blind whack-a-mole with rock shards instead of moles, as well as learning to walk straight whilst the ground shakes and various strength exercises such as carrying a huge rock on your back whilst Amaimon makes the ground beneath your feet buck and rise, and moving a solid stone statue across the ground and around the huge clearing, Oh and his personal favourite having a boulder roll down a steep hill towards you whilst your blindfolded and you have to stop it in its tracks. 'Although that did get a smile from dad' he thought.

All in all, it was a very tiring day... Harry was lying flat on the ground completely out of energy.

"Well we'll see if all that was worth anything... come here" He heard his dad say.

He grumbled as he got up. His father was stood by the remaining rock he used earlier.

"Move the rock like i did earlier, focus on that power you found, connect with it like you did when you stopped the rock, channel it through you and into the rock and move it as i did."

Harry walked up to the rock, took a strong stance and punched the Rock.

All that happened was his hand hurt quite a lot.

"You're doing it wrong, until you learn to do it instinctively you will need to physically channel your power through you"

Harry took a deep breath, and called upon the same feeling he had when he fought lupin and caused that earthquake, and punched the rock... it shot back a good 50 feet crushing various trees in it's path.

"I think you overpowered it" Amaimon stated matter-of-factly.

"No kidding" Harry muttered. Shiemi burst out laughing, and Izumo giggled.

"Well it was a good first day-" cue incredulous look "-lets go back to the mansion, you've got Language classes"

Harry groaned and trekked after his father back into the forest, tiredly waving goodbye to the others.

* * *

When they got back, Mephisto took one look at him and burst out laughing.

Harry was covered in dust and mud splatters and looked ready to collapse with tiredness.

"This isn't funny" Harry mumbled.

* * *

After lunch and then scrubbing off every inch of dust and mud, he decided to explore Mephisto's Mansion, his uncle was busy so couldn't teach him Japanese yet (he tied hard to be disappointed about that).

He walked through so many corridors, he eventually was rather lost, and so he was very glad to spot the familiar spike of green hair from one of the windows, his father was sat on one of the large slanted roofs, watching the sunset.

He climbed out of the nearby window and scrambled up the roof towards him, very glad for his new claw like nails.

Amaimon looked at him sideways as he sat beside him. "Were you looking for me?"

"No, I got lost, but I'm very glad I spotted you any way" Harry said sheepishly.

Amaimon chuckled, before drawing his attention back to the sunset. Harry could really see just why he was spending time looking at it , it was a beautiful sight, especially as the Town and Tokyo beyond it was bathed in a golden light from the rapidly darkening sky.

"Hey Dad" Harry said "What was my mum like?"

Amaimon glanced at him before looking away again with a slight smile.

"Your mother was a real spitfire, she was kind of like a Ghost chilli (you know the hottest chilli pepper in the world, that's what she reminded me off anyway, the Marauders and me used to call her Ghost if we were talking about her and she was around, you know like a code word), she was so hot-tempered and her fuse was so short that it really fit her as a nickname..." he chuckled "but... if you hurt anyone she cared about then watch out! everyone was afraid to be on the receiving end of her wand, once the Slytherins had been picking on one of her friends and she walked over and just opened fire... you should have seen her, it was impressive, she took out most of them on her own before the rest of us had worked out what was going on and ran over to help... she used to hate me at first, you know... she thought I was arrogant and my ego was far too big for me... she really gave me a kick up the ass about my attitude... she really was amazing. Lily was perhaps the only student in the school, aside from Snape, who was completely unimpressed by me. It was probably Lily who fuelled the rivalry between me and Snape, I was rather jealous that he was friends with her and yet she wouldn't give me the time of day. You know to this day I still have no idea why I saved Snape that night he'd have met Lupin when he was a werewolf"

"It would have made my life easier if you hadn't" Harry muttered. Amaimon laughed.

"when I had lost the less savoury aspects of my personality and matured a lot, Lily was willing to give me a chance, I was even appointed Head Boy ya know, despite the fact that I had't been a prefect... still have no idea why I was picked, it was a terrible decision on the schools part... Want a lolly?"

"Sure" Harry said accepting the sweet, and sticking it in his mouth.

"When we graduated, I married your Mum, we were only eighteen, I don't know what she ever saw in me but i'm very glad she saw something... Neither of us ever worked at any point, we were at war of course and i'd inherited a fortune anyway, so we just didn't bother... and then of course we had you... I wish you could have seen her face as she held you for the first time, she was radiant... I refused to even pick you up for about a week, I was too afraid i'd drop you, she laughed a lot about that... I always loved her laugh she sounded like an angel... which considering what I am is rather strange don't ya think... she really was amazing"

"I wish I could remember her..." Harry said.

Amaimon put an arm around his shoulder as they watched the last of the light disappeared.

As it finally turned pitch black Amaimon asked "What to play some video games? Instead of sitting on a soon-to-be freezing rooftop"

Harry laughed as he said "Sure why not, but Dad... you'll have to help me get off this roof first"

* * *

When Harry eventually collapsed into bed at 1 o'clock in the morning, after getting thoroughly thrashed by his Father on SoulCaliber IV, he fell straight asleep again for the second night in a row.

* * *

**I'm going to leave it there, until the next chapter... fair warning, Next chapter will be about training Harry too but then the chapter after that will run with the book plot (sort of) and just flash back to important events that occurred during the summer, this way it's definitely more interesting, than just writing about the whole summer.**

**Again thanks for all the support guys and see you next chapter! XD**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hi guys!**

**Oh and I've got to apologize I completely forgot about the little green man, Nai, last chapter, so let's just say he was with Harry the whole time riding on his shoulder, and was talking with Shiemi's greenman Ni when he was training... I can't believe I forgot about the little thing, and they're like my favourite type of Demon, there so damn cute and adorable. I will definitely remember him this chapter...**

**Some one asked if Amaimon aka James can still claim potter Lordship and save Padfoot, the answer to that is no because it was the vessel/host/ whatever-you-want-to-call-it that was the potter lord not Amaimon (plus all of the ministry would kick off otherwise) however they are going to save Padfoot, the ministry can't intervene with Exorcists ****after all...**

**I'm going to go over something real quick, this story is based of the anime not the manga so none of the illuminati stuff happened, Shima's still a good guy etc, however I will say that the impure king stuff (from the manga) still happened, just after the anime ended, because that was an awesome arc. **

**Thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy the chapter. XD**

* * *

Chapter 9

Harry awoke the next morning feeling sore all over, 'that training was ridiculous...' he moaned.

He hit the snooze button on his new alarm cloak, and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep. He heard the door open and someone chuckled as they walked over to him, he felt the bed dip as whoever it was sat down.

"Your going to be really late for your first day of exorcist training, you know"

He recognized his fathers voice, but snuggled further into the covers... before registering what was said.

"WHAT?" he leaped up and out of bed, tangling his feet in the bed sheet, and falling flat on his face. "ow..." he muttered through the floor.

Amaimon grabbed him by the back of his shirt and lifted him off the floor. "Calm down" he said with a laugh.

"Question... where will I be learning to be an exorcist? where do I go?" Harry said quickly.

"Thats what I'm here to tell you... you need this key... on any door (not counting any in the mansion) you put this key in the lock and when you open the door you have access to the cram school classrooms similar to the ones to and from the vatican... you'll need a uniform, which I've already got to give you... I'll show you how and which classroom you'll be using for Rin and Shura for swordsmanship, and which room Yukio will be teaching you to shoot in, as well as the demonology classroom; that's a class you'll have with the other Exwires, until you get caught up linguistically they'll be teaching in English but as your Language lessons progress they'll start adding in more Japanese."

Harry nodded, but mumbled "I don't really want special treatment though..."

Amaimon smiled slightly, "and that's what makes you you, most people would like the attention... besides, unless something comes up Yukio will be teaching demonology, and considering he's your uncle small allowances are normal, plus it also helps the others to practice their English which might get rusty if not used." He lightly chucked his son's uniform at him as well as key on a necklace chain, "I'll see you at breakfast, don't take too long getting ready, we're running a bit late"

Nai leaped lightly onto Amaimon's shoulder and waved at Harry as the spiked haired demon king walked out of the room.

After shaking his head slightly at the little demons antics Harry got changed and found that his True Cross uniform was much more comfortable and easier to move in than his Hogwarts one, he stretched, it seemed this one was created to allow more movement than a normal uniform even though it included a blazer it was still much more comfortable than the outer robe they were forced into wearing at Hogwarts.

He walked out of his room, cracking his neck and wincing. 'I really need to get into shape...'

* * *

It wasn't long before he was following his father out of the Mansion, Nai riding on his head.

"For obvious reasons you can't just go around use this key anywhere in plain sight, pick a secluded area" His father told him, "...before I forget again do you know any free running at all? you might know it as parkour... it comes in very handy in an Exorcist's line of work, pretty much everyone picks up the basics at some point in their career... Demons very rarely stay still while you try to slash them, and will try to run at some point"

"You mean that stuff from Assassins creed?... I think that's what it was called when I saw Dudley playing it once..."

"Yeah, stuff like that... evidently you don't know any, but doesn't matter... I didn't think you would, I'll teach you it, its not that hard once you get confident"

"Awesome!" Harry exclaimed enthusiastically.

Amaimon chuckled, "This seems like a good spot..." he said gesturing to a door hidden from prying eyes by a concrete wall. "Just put the key in and open it, once its open take out the key and then you can go in"

Harry did so and marvelled as when the weather beaten and dull grey door opened there was a long corridor stretching away from him, decorating in a myriad of dark colours, like a stain glass window painted on stone. 'Considering we used a similar door to get to the Vatican and back I really shouldn't be surprised, but it's still pretty amazing'

He was once more following his father as the important places he'd need to now where pointed out, he paid close attention and was just glad this place wasn't as complicated as his uncles Mansion (or Hogwarts for that matter).

"Well here's the sword room, you'll be using either wooden swords or simple cheap generic swords to start with, once you've mastered the basics me and your uncle will give you the actual sword we've mentioned... that sword will require a lot of work and you really will have to make it your partner for it to trust you with its abilities... not that you'll have anything to worry about as long as you put in the effort" Amaimon said, before ruffling his hair "Good luck and enjoy your first proper day, I've got to go back on guard duty"

"Bye!" Harry called as his father walked off, he got a wave in return.

Squishing down the excitement that made him want to bounce up and down on the spot, he opened the door and walked into the room.

* * *

Rin was already their waiting for him, along with a woman he didn't recognize, she had dull blonde and red hair streaked with silver grey, her face showed signs of ageing and was lightly wrinkled, she looked about 50 years old (it was hard to tell as she seemed so healthy and strong like all the other older exorcists he'd met) she was wearing a pink tank top with a black jacket over the top, a pair of jeans that came to her knees and knee high boots.

"Hey Harry," Rin said brightly, "This is Shura Kirigakure, she was the one who taught me who to use a sword as well as helped me control my powers... don't let her age fool you, she could probably still beat me in a fight"

"Nice ta meet ya kid!" She said, smiling widely "Its been a while since I had a student, I'm looking forward to it... do you have a sword of your own?"

"Not yet, my Dad said he'd give me one once i'd mastered the basics"

"Fair enough I suppose, we'll start with Bokken (wooden swords) and then we'll have a go at sealing later... once you have a good grasp of seals you can get the tattoos like me and Rin, they create a sort of pocket dimension attached to the seal and you can use it to store weapons and ammunition, very useful and their magic so they grow when you grow and if you get injured it won't scar over the seal"

"Thats so cool!" Harry said in an awed voice.

They laughed at the expression on his face.

* * *

"Well start with the kata's, a kata is a series of movements, in detailed choreographed patterns. We'll start with the first one and won't move on till its nearly mastered, by practising in a repetitive manner the learner develops the ability to execute those techniques and movements in a natural, reflex-like manner, this is called muscle memory... it is the body remembering the movements and therefore being able to execute them again in an instant. you'll be using a bokken shaped like a Katana, if you were shorter we'd use Wakizashi, but your tall enough to handle a katana" Rin said as he chucked a wooden sword at him.

With reflex's honed in Quidditch ('which is the only thing that really does improve during the entirety of the sport' he reflected) he caught it easily.

"Well be studying Kenjutsu; Training with the katana and other weapons for use in combat. There are other styles such as Iaijutsu/battojutsu also intended for combat; it is used to dispatch your opponent during or immediately after the draw of the sword, Kendo; the Art of Japanese fencing and Iaido/battodo; the Art of drawing the sword. Kenjutsu is very well rounded for combat which makes it very useful, at a later date if you do well enough with Kenjutsu we'll cover the others as well, probably not Kendo though its usually only good for competitions and Tournaments... are you following so far?"

Harry nodded, "What are the different kinds of swords? I knew about Katana's already but you mentioned a Wakizashi..."

"Good question... there is Bokken: Wooden practice swords closely resembling a katana or Wakizashi, they are a safe alternative to a real sword (do not be fooled though they are not toys and you could still probably kill someone with one if you knew how) , It's the most used weapon in kenjutsu, there are also Tanto: a Japanese dagger about 0.5 feet to 1 foot in length, then there is a Wakizashi: a short sword about 1.5 feet to 2 feet in length, then there's a Katana: A sword about 3.5 feet in length, similarly there is a Ninjato: A cousin of the katana but with a straight blade, and then finally there is a Nodachi/Odachi: which is a really long katana that ranges from 34-60 inches long. There are Tachi's as well, but they are an older sword, that are more uncommon nowadays, they were a bit larger than a Katana..." Shura explained.

"Yeah... you'd suit a Katana of course as well as a Ninjato but also probably a Tachi, if you had enough practice you could maybe handle one of the shorter Nodachi which are around 4 feet in length but they are heavier so you'd be better with one of the smaller types, at least for now." Rin added.

Harry nodded, excitedly wondering what his sword would eventually be like.

"Now as I said we'll start with the Kata's, hold the sword with both hands (when we get to one handed Kata's we'll use both right and left, its always better to be ambidextrous it throws the enemy off), Right hand in front of the left for now, you don't want too loose a grip but too tight a grip and you'll struggle. Stand with legs shoulder width apart, bend your knees slightly..."

* * *

2 hours later a panting Harry, with sweat running down his face and arms, finally slumped down upon a bench. They'd only gone through three Kata's but they'd done them so many times, he felt he could do them in his sleep. He swept his bangs out of his face and off his forehead, with a sigh.

Rin handed him a bottle of water wordlessly. Harry looked up at him gratefully, Rin just ruffled his Hair before sitting next to him.

"For your first attempt (baring the basilisk thing, which even you admit was terrible swordsmanship) you did good, very good for a first attempt and you really threw yourself into the training, enthusiasm is always a good thing"

"Thanks" Harry said before taking a long gulp of water.

"Want a quick match? I'll go easy on ya" Shura said walking over.

"Alright... lets just hope this muscle memory thing works..." He eventually muttered getting back up.

"Go real easy on him Shura, he only knows three Kata's remember" Rin pointed out.

"I know, I know" She said.

Harry got into a defensive position, Bokken held diagonally in front of him from hip to shoulder, Shura just stood there wooden sword hanging limply at her side, but he knew that he shouldn't let his guard down regardless.

"All you have to do is hit me once, but i can hit you as many times as I want until you are in a position which would mean death were these real swords, got it?" She told him, Harry nodded. "Good, we'll do this everyday until i think your good enough for a proper match where to win you'll have the same rules as me... now get ready"

After a moments pause she rushed at him bringing the sword down overhead with both hands, he barely got the Bokken up in time to block it, both wooden swords struck with a loud bang, the strike jarred his arms. 'How in hells name can a nearly 60 year old woman move this fast and be this strong?' he thought incredulously.

She brought the sword down again, breaking through his guard forcing his own sword out of the way and whacking him on the shoulder, hard. He winced, and jumped back slightly before attempting a downwards diagonal slash, she parried the blow and spun like a dancer and struck him across the arm. 'I'm going to have so many bruises... this is as bad as yesterdays training'

He swung the sword horizontally at her, but she ducked under it with flexibility someone of her age should not have, and rose in an upwards slash, he blocked it sloppily with his bokken but nearly toppled backwards, he regained his footing in time to parry another strike from his blind-spot to the side of him. They both danced back and forth, parrying, blocking and striking, but he didn't land a single hit although she'd struck him several more times and he knew she was toying with him as he'd left is side right open and she hadn't gone for it. Nai was cheering him on in his own little way from the bench where Rin was sat.

Then he miscalculated, he went in for a downward slash again (one of the few moves he did know) but he was two slow and she side stepped it and held the bokken up to his jugular.

"Well... I win this time, better look next time kid" she said.

"Thanks..." he muttered before going back to sit down and finish his water off.

"Well you lasted longer than I thought you would... you left your side open a couple of times, but that's more than muscle memory, to get stuff like that right you need experience hence why we will challenge you to a fight every day."

Harry nodded in understanding.

"How did you see that attack? the one from the side I was positive I was in your blind-spot..." Shura asked.

"That's one of the things dad worked on with me, sensing vibrations through the ground and the earth, when you moved there were tiny vibrations that told me the movement... apparently its a side effect of the energy in the movement being transferred to the ground, that's what dad said anyway... science and forces and stuff aren't taught at Hogwarts so I don't really know."

Rin and Shura nodded in understanding, but Rin whispered "don't worry... I don't get science and stuff like that either and I actually had a complete education."

Harry tried had not to laugh.

* * *

"For now read this scroll on sealing... don't lend it to anyone, only you can read it, okay?" Shura asked him as they were leaving the sword room where they'd had lunch as well, for Yukio's class, Harry nodded vehemently, "Don't try to do any on your own, but you can practice drawing out the various shapes, at first you start slow and precise but with muscle memory again you will be able to speed up the process... for your first sword class you did great... Oh and to kick-start your Japanese classes, you add Sensei to the end of a persons name and you are basically calling them teacher, if you want to be more formal (which is appropriate for things like this because its more like an apprenticeship to pass on the sacred art of the sword) you would address them as Shishou which means Master as well as teacher."

"Thanks!" Harry said, he really like Shura, she was funny and energetic but also really knowledgeable and interesting.

"Arigatou" Rin corrected, "Thank you is Arigatou or Sankyu"

Harry nodded filing away the information, Nai nuzzled into the side of his neck as he walked.

"Well here we are... have fun learning how to shoot" Shura said as she walked cheerfully off swinging her arms.

"She's probably going to look for some Sake" Rin muttered under his breath, ignoring the questioning look Harry set his way, as he opened the door and walked into the shooting arena.

Yukio was waiting for them and had several guns in varying sizes laid out on one of the tables.

"Hello Harry... Nii-san what are you doing here?" Yukio said, pushing his glasses further up his nose from where they'd slipped down. 'I remember having that issue...' Harry sympathised with his uncle.

"Thought i'd watch... I haven't got anything better to do..."

"Fair enough... anyway, so Harry you've expressed a desire to become a Dragoon as well as a Knight, can I ask why not a Tamer as well?"

"I didn't really want to risk it in case I messed up and the demons hurt the people I was trying to protect in the first place... but more so because Wizards don't take to well to demons anyway (and I'd rather keep the Exorcist thing secret for as long as possible) plus... I figured I can always learn summoning and taming at a later date, because I get enough attention as it is without adding summoning demons into the mix... the Wizarding world is incredibly prejudiced and its just easier to not add fuel to the fire, introducing Nai to my friends was bad enough..."

"Very smart Harry..."

"Yukio, what does that word mean that you called Rin?"

"Huh?... oh you mean Nii-san, it means elder brother whereas I'm his Otouto (his little brother)"

Harry nodded in understanding before taking a lolly pop out of his pocket and putting it in his mouth.

"Now Harry, to be a successful Dragoon you have to know how to take care of your weapons; how to strip them down and clean them, and of course how to shot a range of guns from Revolvers to Sniper Rifle's, you may of course specialize in one kind of gun but you have to know how to use pretty much all of them. Such as I favour pistols but can still shoot a fully automatic rifle anyway. We'll cover each weapon at a time, you learn how to strip down one then learn how to shoot from the same gun, Okay?"

"Yeah, makes sense"

"We'll be starting with the Semi-Automatic Pistol, the way the gun works is that it when the trigger is pulled (obviously the bullet flies out through the barrel) but it automatically reloads another bullet into the chamber from a Magazine (Mag for short) that is stored within the grip of the gun. What I'll teach you first is to get to know the gun, this is done by taking it apart and putting it back together again and again, Repetition is the key as i'm sure you found out this morning, we'll do that for half of our time and then start actually shooting in the second half of our time and that will be our plan for the duration of your teaching of course we'll switch guns once you have a near mastery of one."

"Just like the Kata's..." Harry muttered staring at the two sleek silver and black semi automatics that Yukio had just put in front of him.

"Exactly... when we start shooting you'll start with your left hand before going on to the right, this will be good practice for using duel pistols after mastering individual pistols. You should start trying to write with left hand as well, it all helps to becoming ambidextrous in a fight. Now, to start with take out the Mag using one hand to to press the Mag release button with your thumb and using your other hand take out the Mag like this..." He demonstrated.

Harry copied him very carefully.

"Now next, we need to open the slide, you do it like this..."

* * *

Harry later walked out of the gun room following Yukio for demonology and Rin trailing along (he'd decided to help Harry catch up with the other Exwire's).

Harry had decided that shooting was much easier than sword fighting, whilst he'd struggled with taking it apart and putting the gun back together he'd excelled at shooting with the pistols and Yukio had decided to just move on to duel pistols because in either his left or right hand he could either hit the bulls-eye every time or just be a centimetre or so off. 'It must be because i'm already used to aiming my magic wand all of the time' he mused.

Yukio had been really pleased at how quickly he'd grasped the concept for shooting, and was confident he'd be an accomplished Dragoon in no time at all.

It didn't take them long to reach the exwires classroom for demonology. This was one class Harry was not looking forward to, he knew he hadn't paid much attention to any classes at Hogwarts and only done the bare minimum to get by (which he wasn't doing this year, he was actually going to put he effort in, with all the trouble he gets into learning as much as he can would be a very good idea) he knew he had a short attention span, but really didn't want to slack off.

When they walked in Harry heard Yukio say something in Japanese and gestured to him a couple of times, "He's just introducing you and saying that they'll be speaking English from now on" Rin whispered, Harry nodded in understanding.

"This is Harry Potter, I think most of you will have seen him yesterday anyway... he'll be learning with you during the summer and is training to be an exorcist just like you guys" Yukio said.

The exwires all said "Hi", some (such as Ryu) were rather enthusiastic but others weren't, one with hair that had been dyed pink at some point banged his head against the desk muttering something like "bad English"

Harry rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and muttered hello back, smiling shyly.

* * *

Harry groaned as he dragged himself out of his seat later that day, Demonology was mentally exhausting, there was so much to learn... especially because he was behind everyone else, he was so glad he had Rin and Ryu helping him out or he'd have really struggled, Nai merely laughed at him.

He had been introduced to some of the other exorcists in training, Nobuyuki Miwa; a small teenage boy with a shaved head and a friendly face (whose father he'd met when he'd first met his father), as well as Ren and Kaede Shima; fraternal twins, Ren being the boy with dyed pink hair that has bad English and Kaede being his sister with dark hair with a purple tint (he later learned they were the children of Izumo, who he'd met yesterday and another exorcist called Renzo who he'd not met yet but was friends with Konekomaru and Ryujin- Bon- Suguro) they'd invited him out to show him around the town at a later date when his Japanese was better, he'd agreed enthusiastically before heading off back towards Mephisto's Mansion.

'I'm really not looking forward to Language classes' he thought with a sigh.

* * *

He opened the door to the mansion wearily, 'it has been a long day..'

Mephisto's butler directed him to the dinning room where Mephisto and his father were already sat.

"Ah, your back, how was your first proper day?" his uncle asked.

"Tiring" Harry muttered slouching into a seat at the long table.

"Ah yes, but worth it in the long run, no?"

Harry muttered affirmative before digging into the meal the King of time had snapped up.

"As soon as we're done eating we'll begin your Japanese lessons... Demons and consequently Half-bloods like you have an innate ability to pick up languages really easily, if you hear it spoken out loud it can easily be memorized almost automatically, so that's how I'll teach you, we won't use books hardly at all. Most demons can learn all of the languages on the planet in just 5 years... you'll probably have Japanese down in just 3 weeks. After you've learnt Japanese we'll move on to Spanish, then German and French, then Chinese (plus Cantonese and Mandarin) and after that who knows." Mephisto said brightly.

Harry just groaned, whist his father laughed at him.

* * *

When Mephisto finally let him go after language class, Harry's head was reeling and was very glad to find Amaimon in the games room playing Streets of Rage on an old SEGA Megadrive console. He'd been surprised to find something so old amongst the the Playstation's 2 and 3, however he agreed with his father that sometimes the older things are better than the new things.

He paused the game as Harry walked in.

"How'd Japanese go?" he asked.

"Not bad" Harry muttered.

"Want a go?" Amaimon said, gesturing to the paused game.

"I could definitely use a break" Harry said, throwing his blazer onto a chair and grabbing a controller, Nai chirped excitedly from his shoulder.

* * *

When he'd eventually gone up to his room after him and Amaimon beat the final boss on Streets of rage 1 and 2, he took a very long bath, admiring the myriad of dark blue and purple bruises he'd acquired over the course of the day with a sigh.

He later slipped under his thick, warm duvet thinking tiredly, 'lets hope everyday isn't as difficult as this one'

* * *

**Sorry for the small chapter, it was kind of like a filler, but at the same time its kinda important...**

**next chapter will be back on track, running alongside of the fourth book... anything else important in the summer will be flash-backed to.**

**Sorry I haven't updated in well over a week, I had tons of work for college... anyway its the half term now so I'll probably get a good couple of chapters out this week.**

**Thanks for reading and thanks for all your support! XD **


	11. Chapter 10

**Hello!**

**Right, I think that in hogwarts the main classes are transfiguration, herbology, potions, charms, astronomy, history of magic, and defence against the dark arts, the extra options are muggle studies, care of magical creatures, arithmancy, runes and divination, right? so... Harry ditched divination so i'm going to make him take Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as well care of magical creatures because he's realized he's really slacked off the other years and will now put the effort in a lot more.**

**The way I've decided it will work is the Animal form from the demon side of things will be something that's inherited through family and is hereditary... so Harry will be a Green Hamster like Amaimon... but an animagus form is not chosen by the wizard, but determined by their personality and inner traits and each Animagus bears an identifying mark on their animal form that is caused by something on their human body, I think this is more to do with the soul of the person so Amaimon can still turn into Prongs as well as the little green hamster, Harry is going to master the Animagus transformation really quickly as well as the demon animal form, I know its supposed to take years but I think after mastering turning into a Hamster it will be easy to become a Animagus because it runs on the same principles and considering no one really knows how you become an animagus I'm going to say it revolves around mediation and will power (something Harry is very adept at due to Senbonzakura), Harry's animagus form was going to be a Maned wolf (looks like a fox on stilts) but I read up on it and found out that they are shy and rather solitary creatures so I decided against it because it dosent suit Harry at all... instead he will be a Grey wolf (which can thank fully for him pass for a Husky), there pack creatures which suits Harry and they're extremely loyal.**

**By the way Senbonzakura will not look exactly like it did in bleach when its in its sealed state, just thought i'd warn you.**

**Also i was thinking that Mephisto could teach harry Kido (you know from bleach) only because its obvious from the unfinished fire pentagram magic thing Mephisto did in the anime that they can do a form of magic and Kido basically translates to the 'way of the demon'... not sure yet though I might not but then it is a strong possibility because Kido can be pretty awesome.**

**Well I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"English"

"emphasis" **  
**

'thoughts'

_"Japanese"_

**"Demon sword telepathy"**

**_"Demon telepathy"_**

* * *

Chapter 10

Harry sat bolt upright in his bed, breathing hard as if he'd just free run across the entirety of true cross town. He pressed one hand to his scar which burned beneath his skin as if a white-hot poker was pressed against it. He had just awoken from a very vivid dream concerning Peter Pettigrew, Voldemort and a very unfortunate old mundane man.

He briefly stretched his hand out for his glasses before remembering that he didn't need them anymore, his scrambling had awoken the little greenman who had taken to sleeping on his pillow.

"Nai?" it said tilting his head up at the green haired teenager.

"Weird nightmare" he muttered to the plant demon.

It stared up at him before nodding in understanding, however it didn't lose its concerned look. At that moment he recalled quite clearly how amused his father and uncle had been when they'd seen how loyal the little demon was with him, he remembered that early on in his training his father said he'd be able to understand any kind of demons telepathically and the only reason he still didn't understand Nai was because it was still just a baby greenman and couldn't yet speak properly. He patted it lightly on the head as slipped out from under his covers and walked over to his mirror.

He looked dispassionately at his tangled hair, he'd decided to grow it early last year and it now reached mid back, he'd kept his bangs at the front of his hair fairly normal and they looked a lot like his fathers hairstyle, he ignored his hair for the moment (putting off untangling it for later) and lifted up his bangs, peering at his scar.

Judging by his head ache he was half expecting to see his scar inflamed and burning red but it looked... normal. 'what the hell?... why would it hurt like that if nothing's wrong? and what was with that dream?'

'Was it real or was it just a figment of my imagination? just an ordinary nightmare...'

He knew when the chair with voldemort in turned around he been kicked out of the dream before he'd seen what voldemort looked like... and they'd been talking about killing someone... he realised with the familiar feeling of apprehension he'd come to associate with someone trying to do him in, that they'd been talking about killing him.

He knew then with absolute clarity that the dream was real, that it had happened. 'But why did I see that? what does this have to do with my scar?'

He turned around, away from the mirror and walked over to the large windows on the other side of the room, he surveyed the True Cross town from his vantage point in Mephisto's mansion everything was calm and quiet, nothing was amiss, despite the fact it was about 4 in the morning. The last time his scar had hurt it was because voldemort was nearby but that was impossible, True Cross town was impenetrable by apparition, Floo powder, Portkey or any other kind of magical transportation and with Exorcists all around the place there was no way that Voldemort or any of his supporters could walk in and the wards and barriers prevent anyone flying in as well, the place was a fortress hidden under the guise of a architectural marvel.

He turned away from the window, and was very glad he wouldn't be returning to the Dursley's for another two days, the security of the town and knowing his family was nearby was very comforting. The only reason he was returning with a week and a half remaining of the holidays was that the Weasley's had invited him to the quidditch world cup, thankfully they'd sent the letter with Hedwig and not their own owl Errol because he highly doubted that their owl would have survived the flight to Japan never mind made it in under a week, he hadn't even been that keen on going and would rather have carried on with his training but his Father had insisted that he needed a break and so he was going back to the Dursley's for one night and then he be going to the Burrow.

This time instead of taking the plane they would be travelling to the British True Cross Headquarters through the fancy doors from the Vatican. There was still two weeks until he was due back to school, he'd spent a grand total of 4 whole weeks training to be an exorcist... according to his father and uncle he was practically a prodigy, he had taken to his natural abilities with ease and lapped up whatever his father taught him like a cat to milk, he had had quite a bit of trouble with his ability to turn into an animal apparently it was something nearly all demons could do (not to be confused with an Animagus), he found that after managing to turn into a Hamster, like his father, learning to be an Animagus was easy especially because it all revolved around meditation something he had become very adept at. His Animagus form was a Grey wolf, confusingly his Grey wolf form was very nearly all white baring some very pale grey-ish tan patches (according to his father 'Grey wolf' was just the name of the species and they could be any colour from white to black or in between) most Animagus had some feature that marked them from something on their human body, like Mcgonagall and her glasses, he didn't, baring his wolf form had long fur on its head shaped like Harry's fringe was. His swordsmanship had improved greatly and he could last 10 minutes in a real spar with Shura now, they'd also seen fit to give him a real demon sword and he had become very attached to it, his shooting had also improved in leaps and bounds and he could handle automatic rifles and sniper rifles as well as the pistols he started with... his theory work could still use a lot of work though... there was just so much to remember about all the different kind of demons and how to deal with them, sometimes he felt like he was drowning in an endless sea of notes and books and scrolls.

His sealing ability was good enough that he now knew how to work the large storage seal that Shura, Rin and now he himself used to keep their swords hidden but he was nowhere near the ability of Shura or Angel who could create seals and barriers impenetrable to everyone baring Satan himself. His hand brushed lightly over the top of the sealing tattoo just below his collar bones where he'd put his sword Senbonzakura, the actual tattooing process wasn't as painful as he'd expected... what the seal did was create a pocket dimension tied to the seal that you could store things in.

Amaimon had accidentally broken Harry's wand the week before last by dropping a Bariyon on it, Harry had cursed inventively with language he didn't know he knew, Amaimon had merely laughed at the string of curses coming from his son's mouth whilst trying to apologize, they'd had to go into Tokyo to buy him a new one, they ended up completely destroying the shop...

**flashback start**

_Amaimon walked up to the traditional little shop with a neat jade pagoda roof, the walls were white washed and the building had red and yellow accents. Harry trailed after his father moodily, he had been happy with his old wand, but someone had broken it._

**_"I didn't like your old wand" S_**_enbonzakura said pointedly. **"we'll get a better one" **Harry didn't jump this time when Senbonzakura spoke in his mind, he'd finally got used to having the demon sword speak to him._

_ "Come along Harry" Mephisto said from behind him._

_"Yeah, yeah..." he muttered._

_They walked in through the already open sliding door. Harry immediately preferred this store to Olivander's, it was light open and airy, all of the wands were stacked neatly on their shelves and there was no creepy old man waiting to jump out at you._

_The shop owner walked out from the back of the store, he was a middle aged man with long-ish black hair swept up into a traditional top-knot, he wore a white Kurosode and black Hakama along with traditional sandals and Tabi._

_Mephisto and Amaimon stood back while Harry was in the middle of the room. The man and Harry bowed slightly to each other._

_ "Hajimemashite, I'm Potter Harry" _

_"I'm assuming you are looking for a wand, my I inquire as to what happened to your last one?" The shop keeper asked._

_"I broke it" Amaimon said from behind them._

_"Ah, yes... well lets get started" The shop keeper said cheerily as he went and pulled some of the boxes of the shelves._

_"Try this one"_

_Harry waved the wand and the wooded edged windows shattered. Mephisto and Amaimon dodged flying glass shards._

_"Gomenasai" Harry said with a full bow._

_"Its fine, we can fix it later... try this one"_

_Harry waved the wand and one of the selves collapsed causing Amaimon to dodge the falling boxes._

_38 wands, a flood, earthquake, fire and more destroyed furniture and they still hadn't found a match, it didn't help that Senbonzakura was refusing most of them actually causing 3 wands to blow up._

_"Hmm... it is very rare that we have this much of a problem, only two others have given me this much challenge, we'll make a custom wand for you."_

_Harry nodded in understanding._

_"Whilst your doing that shall I fix your shop?" Mephisto asked._

_"That would be very much appreciated" The shop keeper said, "Follow me young man"_

_Harry followed him into the back of the store._

_"Hold your hand over the woods and tell me which one you feel a connection with"_

_Harry did so, he appeared to be quietly contemplating his options but in actuality he was conversing with Senbonzakura._

_'what do you think?'_

_**"Hmm... not that one... that one, it resonates with your magic"**  
_

_'thanks'_

_Harry picked up the wood and handed it to the shop keeper._

_"Cherry blossom, you're right about this one, good choice... now all that's left is the core... for the core we'll use one of your hairs, the only reason all the wands rejected you is because you're either two powerful or your magical signature is strange and therefore dosent resonate with any other, the solution to this using one of your own hairs because it will be imbued with your own magic" The shop keep commented._

_"Okay" Harry said, he took down the high ponytail he'd pulled his hair up into and plucked out a few hairs before handing them to the shop keeper._

_"Your wand should be ready by the end of the week, you can come pick it up then, and pay on the day"_

**End Flashback**

Harry's new wand was 18 inches long, it was a mainly made of pale brown wood, the handle's made of twisted wood and was stained a darker shade than the rest of the wand, around the top of the handle there was a small golden band, etched into the wand were delicately carved cherry blossom flowers, both him and senbonzakura were pleased with his new wand.

Harry thought back on his current predicament, what should he do about his scar hurting... he didn't really want to go to his father or uncle about it, he didn't want them to think he was weak or worry about him, if he wrote to Ron or Hermione, not only would they just worry about him and suggest rather stupid things such as look in a book and ask Dumbledore but he also wouldn't get replies in ages, he could write to Sirius but the reply time was still an issue... 'I'll just tell dad and Uncle, he'd probably rather I didn't keep stuff from him... he also will probably be able to tell something's up any way'

Nai looked at him curiously as he sat down on the bed, the little creature walked over and patted him on the leg, tilting his head at him.

"I'll be very glad when you can talk... even if it is just telepathically" Harry said

"Naaaai" the creature smiled up at him.

Harry stroked its head absent-mindedly, before getting up. "If I'm awake this early I might as well do something useful" he muttered.

He threw off his pyjama vest top, pleased that all of his hard work was showing on his developing muscles, and walked into over to the large space between his bed and the wardrobe. He held up his hand close to his chest, "_Devour the eight princesses, Slay the serpent"_

A pale pink-ish purple light was emitted by the part of the seal on his sternum and a Hilt rose up from the seal, he gripped the hilt tightly with his right hand and pulled the sword fully from the seal.

His sword, Senbonzakura, is a rather long Katana reaching 3.75 foot in length from hilt to tip, if he chose to wear it he had no choice put to strap it to his back as it was only a quarter of a foot shorter than he was, the blade was an impeccable piece of steel, flawless and brilliant. It shimmered and shone as the pre-dawn light from the window caught on the side of the blade. The _Tsuba _or guard was pale golden and rectangular, it was an open cross guard similar to that of a four paned window.

Like any other Katana the hilt was covered in _Same _(shark skin), on Senbonzakura it was bleached white, the _Ito _or rather silk wrappings around the hilt were a royal purple in colour, the pommel was coloured the same pale golden shade as the guard.

He'd left the white _saya_ (sheath) out of the seal, it was propped up by his bed, alongside of an all black cotton carrying case.

He began to meticulously run through all of his katas, flowing smoothly through each one, one after another, gliding across the thick carpeted floor.

Slowly the light from his window began to dye the room golden yellow as the sun rose into the sky.

He didn't register his father knocking on his door, or walking into the room until he was right behind him.

_"You're up early"_ Amaimon commented, judging from the sweat running of his son, he'd been at this a while.

_"Had a nightmare didn't see the point in going back to sleep"_ Harry said, not breaking form.

_"What was it about?"_ Amaimon asked, concerned.

Harry stopped his Kata and walked back to his bed shrugging his shirt back on, he still didn't answer immediately.

Amaimon waited patiently, and didn't pressure his son.

_"It was about... Voldemort, he was in this old mansion and him and Wormtail were planning to kill me (yeah, what else is new right) and they were talking and there was this old mundane man and he was eavesdropping... they killed him and then the chair voldemort was in turned around so I was about to see him but then I woke up"_

Amaimon walked over an sat beside Harry on the edge of the bed, "_I take it you think this wasn't a normal kind of dream... I doubt you'd be worked up over something normal"_

Harry paused, "_My scar burned, that was what woke me up... I highly doubt it was a coincidence... my scar's hurt before but it was only when voldemort was nearby... and considering my dream was about voldemort..."_ he sighed.

"_We'll have Aniue take a look at it later, it shouldn't burn and... vision's are not normal, whether you're a half blood or not."_

_"You don't think I imagined it?..." _Harry muttered.

"_Course not, if its bothering you that's good enough for me" _Amaimon said, "_Now get dressed, today we'll be working on manoeuvring in your animal forms and we'll be recapping earth manipulation... we'll speak to Aniue at dinner"_

* * *

Harry struggled to re-open the front door when he and his father returned that evening, they'd had a very tiring day. He spent most of it chasing his father around the large forest behind the town, had people not known it was them it would have appeared like a rather large grey wolf was hunting a stag when in actuality they'd been playing an advanced form of tag, and the 'recap' of earth manipulation was in fact various spars... meaning it was a very exhausted Harry that had walked back up to Mephisto's mansion whilst Amaimon just looked very dusty.

Eventually making it into the mansion they made their way to the kitchen, knowing that Mephisto would not appreciate them getting dust and dirt all over his expensive dining room.

It seemed the king of time was psychic because he was waiting for them with a hot meal ready, Harry practically attacked the food like a starved dog (hampered slightly by the mandatory use of chopsticks) Amaimon wasn't much better but he was a tad more civilised. Mephisto grimaced at the lack of manners he come to associate with his brother and nephew after a day of training.

"How was training?" Mephisto asked, as he leisurely ate his rice.

"Not bad..."

"Good... Now, considering you're going back to the Dursley's in two days and thereafter back into the magical world we need to sort some things out, the Vatican has seen fit to make you a lower second class Exorcist, a Meister as a knight and Dragoon... don't think that this means you don't need anymore training, to the other Exorcists you're still basically an Esquire however to the rest of the world you're a Lower second class, this serves a duel propose we can get custody from the ministry easily (next year you'll be coming straight here) and non of their Aurors can touch you, you're above the ministry laws, we've already got them to remove the trace on you and you can now perform magic whenever you want" Mephisto announced, Harry's jaw fell open and he dropped his chopsticks, Amaimon's chopsticks stopped midway to his mouth as he stared in shock at his older brother. "Now here's your license... remember to all the other Exorcists your still in training and no better than the Exwires but that should change by the end of next summer or at max the summer after that... Oh, and here's your badge, you put this on everything even your school uniform, you'll find several copies of your exorcist uniform in your room... Oh and we've also registered your Animagus form for you, the Hamster's still a secret though"

Harry examined his new badge, it was a silver coat of arms shaped like a heart split into quarters two sections were red the other two were blue, it was topped by a helmet and it ended in a point. His license had his picture on it and it stated his rank and Meister abilities, it also had a authorization mark from the Vatican and it was set in a black flip book style thing that he'd seen people on TV with, like on NCIS, on the front it had another Exorcist badge on the front.

"Awesome..." he muttered faintly.

"You must have made a really good impression on them" Amaimon said, staring at the license. Harry nodded in response.

"Amaimon mentioned earlier that there was something you wanted to talk about" Mephisto prompted.

"Yeah..." Harry said, putting the license and badge into his pocket. "This morning I... kinda had a nightmare... but it wasn't normal, my scar really hurt and felt like it was on fire and I dreamt about voldemort... you see, in the past my scars burned only like that because voldemort was nearby which obviously wasn't the case and them there was the weird dream..." he trailed off towards the end.

Mephisto peered at him worriedly, "You were right to talk to me about this... even if its a curse scar that shouldn't be happening"

"Second year, Dumbledore said when voldemort gave me the scar he accidentally gave me some of his power, that's why i'm a parselmouth..."

"Dumbledore said that, did he?..." Amaimon said sarcastically, "What's the bet he knew more than he let on" Harry nodded in agreement.

"Harry sit still for a second" Mephisto said as he walked around the table to where he was sit. He took of his purple gloves and stuck them in his pocket revealing long black nails similar to Amaimon's and Harry's.

He began chanting in German and as a faint green light enveloped his hand, "advanced diagnostic spell" he muttered to Harry's questioning look, he ran his hand over the scar, Mephisto scowled darkly. Amaimon tensed, he had rarely seen his brother so serious.

"I need a second opinion before I make assumptions... we're going to see Angel... right now." Mephisto said yanking Harry up by his forearm.

"Wait... Wha?" Harry stuttered as Mephisto practically dragged him off.

Amaimon hurried after them.

* * *

When they got through the magic transport door into the Vatican, it was about nine o'clock in the morning there, Harry was once again staggered by the time difference.

"Come on, this way" Mephisto said, he still hadn't let go of Harry's arm and was walking that fast that Harry was practically running to keep up with him, Amaimon was jogging as well and shrugged his shoulders at the rather helpless look Harry sent him.

They marched past more corridors than Harry could count before eventually reaching a door deep within the quarters for Exorcists posted at the Vatican. Mephisto hammered on the door, Amaimon and Harry were surprised he didn't break the door down.

It was opened after a few minutes, a rather tired looking Angel, with dishevelled hair, was stood in the open doorway. He scowled when he saw the demon kings.

"Is there a reason you've woke me up after I had late shift last night" Angel spoke with a crisp tone to his strong British accent.

"I needed a second opinion regarding Harry's curse scar, and you're the magic expert in the Exorcist ranks after all" Mephisto said trying to be as pleasant as possible.

Arthur A Angel looked briefly down at Harry before sighing, "Very well you might as well come in"

They walked into Angel's quarters, they were decorated nearly entirely in white. "What is it specifically you wanted my opinion on?" Angel questioned.

"Harry had a weird vision and his scar burned, of course this isn't normal and we later found out that Dumbledore thinks that Harry got some of Voldemort's magic ability with the scar such as Parseltongue... and the scar 'burns' whenever Voldemort is nearby... this is not a normal scar by any standards"

"Alright, I see what you mean, that is rather troubling... only certain things could cause that kind of reaction and none of them are good." Angel said.

He got out his wand, gesturing to Harry to sit on the couch. As he sat down, Angel walked over and began rhyming of spells rapidly, weaving complicated magic the various spells converged on the scar and formed a kind of magic barrier around it.

The scar began to emit black energy and a strange screaming noise filled the room, the magic barrier dissipated. When the energy cleared it revealed the scar was open and bleeding, thick rivulets of blood rolled down Harry's face, as he fought to stay concious.

Amaimon rushed over and caught his son as he slumped over out cold, he glared up at Angel, "Explanation. Now!"

"I was right in my assumption then" Mephisto said.

"If you thought it was a Horcrux then you were right..." Angel said, looking very troubled.

"What is a Horcrux?" Amaimon ground out.

"A Horcrux is a powerful object in which a Dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. Creating one Horcrux gives one the ability to anchor one's own soul to earth if the body is destroyed; the more horcruxes one creates, the closer the caster believes they are to true immortality. Creating multiple Horcruxes is suggested to be costly to the creator, by both diminishing their humanity and even physically disfiguring them... more than likely Harry was never supposed to be a Horcrux and it was an accident the night Avada Kedavra was reflected back onto Voldemort" Angel said.

"Well... we now know how Voldemort is still in this plain of existence" Mephisto commented, "He probably has more than one... that diary Harry mentioned was one but of course voldemort is still here, so there must be more, and of course he probably doesn't even know about Harry... the only way he could have created one by accident would be if he'd created more than 2 or 3 and his soul was very fragile"

"That's all well and good, but how do we get rid of that thing without killing my son?" Amaimon snapped.

"We exorcise the fragment of course... we have dealt with Horcruxes in the past even on living things and there has been no damage... he should even be able to keep his Parseltounge ability" Angel said. "I'll arrange it now, we should be ready in Half an Hour... stay here, Myself and Mephisto shall arrange everything."

They walked out without another word, Amaimon set Harry down on the couch and located Angels first aid kit (every exorcist had one, the True Cross Exorcists were as paranoid as they come) luckily it was well stocked. He found antiseptic wipes (checking first that they weren't the holy water ones for temp-tainted wounds) and washed the blood off his sons face.

'If anything happens to him... They will pay'

* * *

Mephisto reappeared about 25 minutes later, "The Grigori authorized the exorcism faster than we expected, the idea that Horcruxes are once again in the world is very disconcerting to them... the ritual area has been set up, come on"

Amaimon picked his son up and tried to quell his fear for his son, and squash it down. He followed Mephisto down into the very heart of the Vatican. They eventually reached a very dark room lit only by candle light, there were sigils all over the walls and runes carved into every inch of the room. There was a kind of altar set up in the middle of the room surrounded by a massive seal array. He was instructed to lay Harry down on the altar, he gulped down the remainder of his fear and decided to trust them with his sons life. But if anything happened to him he would tear them limb from limb and rip there guts out with his bear hands, but for now he would trust them.

Him and Mephisto got outside of the seal array and stood by the door.

The Exorcists present, Angel included, began chanting in Latin... the room began to fill up with magic power and the seals and runes lit up and began to glow. The chanting carried on for ten minutes (to Amaimon it felt like decades) and then a wailing filled the room, black smoke pored out fro the scar taking a humanoid shape with red glowing eyes, the chanting grew louder and the shape began to disintegrate as it erupted in white light.

The chanting died down and most of the exorcists slumped to the floor breathing heavily. Angel picked up Harry, and walked over to where the two demon kings were stood.

"We should keep him in the infirmary overnight just to be sure, however the soul fragment is no longer there... if a Horcrux was in an inanimate object we could have shot it or sliced it and it would have died due to the holy weapons, it only requires a ritual like this if the fragment is in a living person. When he wakes up, he'll be perfectly normal and his connection to Voldemort will be gone"

Amaimon nodded taking Harry from the Paladin, "Where is the Infirmary?"

"Follow me" Angel said.

* * *

Harry opened his eyes, and sat up groggily, he was about to ask his father what happened when he realised he was once more in his inner world. He looked around he was lying by the lake looking up at the moon. He could see Senbonzakura sat on the roof of the pavilion connected to the large Japanese mansion also gazing at the moon.

He looked around, the former dead tree by the lake was now a cherry blossom in full bloom, the valley where they were situated was still surrounded by the almost impenetrable thick forest (when he'd been learning to be an animagus he had to chase down his wolf form in that forest). The wolf in question was currently lounging beneath the cherry tree, he understood the situation as the animal that inhabited your inner world was the one that you would be able to transform into as an Animagus and it would challenge you some way, his demon animal form was different and that was just an inherited ability, Animagus was the ability to turn into the animal that best represented your soul. The wolf nodded to him in acknowledgement.

He washed his face in the water by the lake to wake him self up and got up, staggering slightly. He walked over to the pavilion and leapt up onto the roof, settling down next to Senbonzakura.

Senbonzakura took the form of a masked samurai in dark red full-body armour over a purple _Kurosode_ and _Hakama_ tied with a thick white sash, his Hakama tucked into his shin guards. He has very long, dark brown hair tied up with a silver ribbon, he wears a golden forehead plate that resembles a half-cherry blossom and has blue eyes. Usually he wears a mask shaped like that of an _Oni, _however tonight the mask was absent, revealing a face that most women would swoon over.

Originally Harry had been very confused to find the sword in his inner world, until he explained to him that as he meditated with the sword they were resonating their souls, so he was taking up residence in Harry's inner world, Senbonzakura said that in the material world he was just a nameless, featureless, sword and needed a master to wield him, he was nothing without a wielder just like any other demon sword, they can't truly exist without a wielder and partner, the swords are reflections of the wielder's power and soul, and sentient beings unto themselves. The Sword's name is the name of the living spirit which empowers the sword and lends its strength to the person who wields it. These beings in the demon swords can vary greatly in appearance, and have their own distinct personalities, which match their owner's, the nameless, featureless generic sword takes on the characteristics of the wielder. Harry was still kind of confused about that, but didn't really care much, Senbonzakura was his Partner that was all he needed to know.

"Do you know what happened?" Harry asked him.

"Yes... Even though you were unconscious, I was not... they had to Exorcise a Horcrux from your scar, a Horcrux is a soul fragment used to tie people's souls to the earth even if they die, this is the technique voldemort used to stay alive... or at least in this plane... It is gone now and you are in the infirmary, you have been unconscious for 5 hours."

"A fragment... of Voldemort's soul was in my scar?" Harry stammered, revolted.

"Yes, but like I said it is gone now... I believe your father is quite worried, you should wake up now" Senbonzakura said calmly.

Harry nodded in response and concentrated, before his form shimmered and he vanished.

* * *

Harry blearily opened his eyes and sat up with a groan.

Amaimon who had been dozing in a chair near the infirmary bed, shot up and nearly fell of his chair. "Harry you're awake!... how are you feeling?"

"Like I've just fell of a 300 storey high building and landed head-first... My head's killing me" He moaned.

A currently nameless nurse bustled over with tablets, "These are for the headache, you should be able to leave soon"

He took the tablets gratefully, and downed them in one go, before sitting back with a sigh.

It was then that Mephisto walked in "Ah, you're awake! good we were very worried... we need to leave soon though it might be 3 o'clock here however in Japan its 11 PM and you've only got tomorrow before you have to go back to those awful mundanes"

Harry groaned, "Don't remind me..."

Amaimon gave him a sympathetic smile before pulling him into a hug, muttering "I was worried about you kiddo"

The very touching moment was ruined when Angel walked in, and coughed awkwardly, causing Amaimon to pull away.

"Way to ruin the moment..." Mephisto muttered, Angel glared at him.

"I just thought you'd be interested to know that the Grigori finally reached a decision about who they'd said to the quidditch world cup as protection... It will be my team and as well as that for the Triwizard tournament staying at Hogwarts this year will be me, Shura and you Mephisto, plus whoever you decide to bring."

"You're going to the quidditch world cup?" Harry asked.

"Yes, apparently the Ministry were worried all the excitement would attract demons and apparently I have nothing better to do... i'm assuming you asked because you're going as well? considering the likelihood of something happening is slim, I'll add you onto my team and you can observe how we act during a mission and gain experience... oh, and you might be interested in these" Angel said, he put down several books on the bed.

Harry read over their covers, they were all about wandless magic.

"Arigatou, Angel-san" Harry said.

"Don't mention it, see you at the Cup" That said, the paladin walked out.

"Well, we should get going... you need your rest, tomorrow will be a fun day of packing" Mephisto said with fake cheeriness.

* * *

Harry was practically dead on his feet by the time he made it back to his bed, Nai was waiting for him and chirped happily when he slumped down on the bed, he smiled wearily at the little creature and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

His Father and Uncle must have let him sleep in, he mused as he blearily looked at the clock it read 12:38, he was due at the special door to Vatican and then onto the door to the out skirts of London at 3. He groaned at the thought of going back to the Dursley's.

He dragged himself out of bed and got dressed in graphic t-shirt and jeans that were strategically ripped to give a distressed look. He picked up Nai and walked out of his room and down to the kitchen. His Father was sat at the table with a pre-ordered pizza, he handed his son a slice without a word. Harry muttered "_San-Kyu" _as he attacked his Pizza slice.

"Do you want help packing?" Amaimon muttered, rather downcast he had to send his Son back to those horrible people that he would gladly tear to pieces.

"Yes please" Harry murmured back.

They ate in silence for a while, before Harry asked "Hey Dad, ya know Uncle can bring whoever he wants to Hogwarts for the Tournament do you think he'd let you come?"

"Quite frankly I don't know... Maybe... Hopefully... if he does he'll probably make Rin and Yukio come as well, he might not want to risk it though... we do look an awful lot alike, people might work out our big secret"

"Yeah... True... we don't act alike though and besides Wizards are pretty stupid, only my friends would find anything suspicious and i'd have to tell them eventually"

"Well we'll see... its Aniue's decision in the end"

They fell back into silence before going up to pack.

* * *

As Harry stepped back into England from the Exorcist Headquarters there, with a look of disdain on his face, 'Now that I think about it I really prefer how things are run in Japan'

The drive back with Mephisto was silent, Harry was sulking and Mephisto really didn't want to send his Nephew back to the Dursley's even if it was for just one full day.

Harry thought back on his parting with his father, he'd given Harry a hug and said "Don't let those sons-a-bitches get you down" that made Harry smile a bit.

All to soon they were back in Privet Drive, Harry scowled.

His scowl deepened when Mephisto pretended to be friendly and explained, that Harry would only be there for a few days and next year they might not see him at all, 'that placated them all right' Harry though bitterly.

He waved goodbye to his Uncle and dragged his stuff inside and up to his room, nodding in acknowledgement to his 'relatives'.

He dropped his trunk on the floor and collapsed onto his bed, 'I might as well do my homework later...' he thought with a sigh.

* * *

When he awoke the next day, he quickly got dressed in tight black jeans pulling a black button up shirt on and a thin emerald jumper over that, (despite the fact it was still summer and it was sunny it was rather cold, like autumn had come early) he tugged on some converse and brushed his hair before pulling it up into a high pony tail in a similar style to Senbonzakura.

When he got downstairs the Dursley's were already seated at the kitchen table, none of them acknowledged his presence, not that he cared.

For Breakfast Aunt Petunia was giving them a grape fruit quarter, (Harry had forgotten about Dudley's diet), Vernon had looked between the grape fruit and petunia with an expression that clearly said 'is this it?', Petunia merely looked at Dudley pointedly, Harry's 'quarter' was considerably smaller than the others, however he was used to this by now and he wouldn't suffer from one day of bad meals.

When the doorbell rang, Vernon went to answer it (Dudley used this as a chance to steal his father grapefruit) Harry wordlessly passed his grape fruit slice to Dudley, he couldn't stand the fruit. Despite all of the tension and fights between them, Harry decided to let the grudge go, Dudley was raised to hate Harry that was a simple fact it wasn't necessarily his fault. Harry looked between Harry and the the Grape fruit before sending him a grateful look and eating it before his mother noticed.

Harry heard someone laughing from the front door, and Vernon answering curtly and then the door slamming.

Vernon stomped into the room, "YOU" He barked at Harry "Living room now!"

Rather bemused, Harry followed him into the living room.

* * *

Why on earth the Weasley's had decided to send a letter the Dursley's he didn't know, it was rather stupid in his opinion... especially because they planned to come get him anyway. 'Wizard's get weirder and weirder' he thought as he finished of his homework with the fountain pen he'd replaced the quill with.

He resolved to send a letter to Sirius later on using Hedwig to tell him he'd be at the Weasley's if he wanted to contact him.

* * *

By 2 in the afternoon he'd re-packed his trunk, and finished all of his homework and then proceeded to play 'Geometry Dash' on the Android tablet his father had bought him, cursing in Japanese when he kept dying at the same point.

The atmosphere at the Dursley's was tense in apprehension of the Wizards arriving in to their house, Harry just stayed out of their way (baring challenging Dudley to beat him on 'WWE Smackdown vs Raw', Dudley took offence and accepted the challenge, suffice to say he was thrashed and Harry walked off with a broad smile on his face) the next night when the Weasley's were set to arrive the Dursley's got dressed in their best clothes in an attempt to make the Weasley's feel inferior, Harry however donned a chequered shirt and distressed jeans, complete with combat boots, (he was glad Amaimon had put an indestructible extension charm on his trunk, it was now rather massive and easily stored all his new stuff).

But the appointed time of five o'clock came and then went. Uncle Vernon, perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, peered up and down the street, then withdrew his head quickly.

"They're late!" he snarled at Harry.

"I know," said Harry. "What do you want me to do about it? anything could have happened" Ten past five ... then a quarter past five ... Harry was starting to get a little bit impatient and plugged his new earphones for his touch screen Sony Walkman in and listened to the Vocaloids (surprisingly both him and his father really like their music). At half past, he heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in terse mutters in the living room.

"No consideration at all."

"Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late."

"Well, they most certainly won't be," said Uncle Vernon, and Harry heard him stand up and start pacing the living room. "They'll take the boy and go, there'll be no hanging around. I daresay their kind don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken d- AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!"

Harry jumped up from his place on the stairs and shoved the Walkman back into his pocket. From the other side of the living room door came the sounds of the three Dursleys scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking terrified. Harry grabbed him by the arm.

"What happened?" said Harry urgently. "What's the matter?" But Dudley didn't seem able to speak, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen. Whilst Harry hurried into the living room.

Loud banging and scraping was coming from behind the Dursley's boarded-up fireplace, which had a fake coal fire plugged in front of it.

"What is it?" gasped Aunt Petunia, who had backed into the wall and was staring, terrified, toward the fire. "What is it, Vernon?"

But they were left in doubt barely a second longer. Voices could be heard from inside the blocked fireplace.

"Ouch! Fred, No. go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake, tell George not to-OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron-"

"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad, maybe he'll be able to let us out-"

There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards behind the electric fire. "Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"

The Dursleys rounded on Harry like a pair of angry lions. "What is this?" growled Uncle Vernon. "What's going on?"

"They've tried to get here by Floo powder," said Harry, chuckling. "Wizards have this ridiculous method of travelling by fire, only you've blocked the fireplace. Hang on-" He approached the fireplace and called through the boards. "Mr Weasley? Can you hear me? Mr Weasley, it's Harry... the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through here."

"Damn!" said Mr. Weasley's voice. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"

"They've got an electric fire," Harry explained, "gives out heat without anything having to be burned"

"Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that... Let's think ... ouch, Ron!"

Ron's voice now joined the other's. "What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"

"Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."

"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against the wall. Harry burst out laughing.

"Boys, boys..." said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think what to do... Yes... only way. . . Stand back, Harry."

Harry retreated to the sofa, his prank senses tingled and he got his phone out and pressed record. Uncle Vernon, however, moved forward.

"Wait a moment!" he bellowed at the fire. "What exactly are you going to-"

BANG.

The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded up fireplace burst outward, expelling Mr Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose plaster chippings.

Petunia shrieked and fell backward over the coffee table; Vernon caught her before she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the Weasleys.

Harry started laughing again, and pressed stop on the phone. He was very pleased he'd recorded that particular incident.

Harry ignored Mr Weasley apologizing to the Dursley's as he went to get his trunk, he hauled it easily down the stairs and into the living room, he set it down in the middle of the room and watched the exchange between the Dursley's and the Weasley's.

Finally Mr Weasley lit a fire using incendio and began to send them on their way.

* * *

Later on, Harry was showing the Weasley twins the video he'd managed to get of the aftermath of the Ton-Tongue toffee incident, complete with Vernon throwing ornaments.

Ron and Ginny were looking over the twins shoulders, Hermione was huffing disapprovingly off to one side whilst they all laughed at Dudley.

Mr Weasley yelled at the twins once he had apparated back to the burrow, which resulted in Mrs Weasley yelling at the twins whilst Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron snuck off upstairs.

When they'd finally stopped arguing they went back downstairs to help with dinner.

* * *

By 7 in the evening the tables outside had been laden with many dishes, including some Japanese ones Harry had helped make, he still hadn't told them why he'd really been in Japan they just knew he'd been at True Cross Academy (Hermione had grilled him for details on the prestigious school as soon as got to the burrow), he wasn't exactly sure how to word the situation.

"Itadakimasu" he said before beginning, barely hearing Hermione explain to the Weasley's it meant thanks for the food.

Harry delicately ate his food with his chopsticks (which in Ron's eyes was a very impressive feat) and instructed Hermione how to use them for the Udon Noodles. He listened more than got involved with the conversations; Percy was talking about his report and mentioning someone called Bertha going missing.

"we've got quite enough on our plates at the Department of International Magical Cooperation without trying to find members of other departments too. As you know, we've got another big event to organize right after the World Cup." Percy cleared his throat significantly and looked down toward the end of the table where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. "You know the one I'm talking about, Father." He raised his voice slightly. "The top-secret one."

Ron rolled his eyes and muttered to Harry and Hermione, "He's been trying to get us to ask what that event is ever since he started work. Probably an exhibition of thick-bottomed cauldrons."

"Actually," Harry said "He's referring to the Triwizard tournament"

The elder Weasley's did a spit-take and stared in shock down the table at Harry, Bill and Charlie burst out laughing at their expressions.

"How'd you know?" Percy sputtered indignantly.

Harry sighed, he might as well get this over with, "Because you asked the exorcists for help, didn't you?"

"What's that got to do with..." Percy trailed off, his jaw dropping open as he made the connections in his mind, "We heard the True Cross order had some sort of training base in Japan..."

"What on earth possessed you to join the True Cross Order?" Mrs Weasley asked incredulously.

"What's wrong with the Exorcists?" Bill asked his mother indignantly, before Harry could, "Their a great bunch of people solely dedicated to defending mundane humanity against outside forces, mainly demons... Honourable they are" he added sagely.

"Exactly... I met one of the Honorary Knights when a woman was attacked by coal tar and decided I wanted to help, I think its a better occupation than being an Auror" Harry said taking out the license and handing it to Bill.

"Wow, Lower second class already... you moved fast didn't you?" Bill said looking over the license.

"Is that good?" Hermione asked, for once completely lost.

"Lower second class is technically a fully fledged Exorcist, however its the lowest rank you can have." Harry explained. "the ranks below that are Esquire (also pronounced Exwire) which is an Exorcist in training, and Page which is a Candidate for further training."

Ron, Hermione and Ginny stared at him gob-smacked.

"Fully fledged Exorcist..." Ginny stammered out at last, Harry inwardly cringed at her awestruck expression, she seemed more fangirly than usual.

"As of two days ago, yeah... before that I was an Esquire"

Just then his phone rang, it started blurting loudly out 'Decorator' by Livetune / Kz ft Hatsune Miku.

He pulled his phone, the caller ID said it was Mephisto, he held it up to his ear ignoring the bewildered looks of the Weasley's and Hermione's incredulous look, "_Moshi, Moshi"_

_"Ah, hello Harry, How have you been?... oh and Angel called, he wants to know where you'll be at the stadium for the cup"_

_"Hi Mephisto, I've been good I'll be sending you, Amaimon, Yukio and Rin some really funny video's later... I don't know about where we'll be sat, gimme a sec I'll ask..." _

He moved the phone away from his ear slightly, "Mr Weasley, where will we be sat at the quidditch cup?"

"In the Top Box" he said slightly confused.

"Thanks" Harry turned back to the phone, "_We'll be in the Top Box, Weasley-San got good tickets"_

_"Thanks for letting me know, I'll tell the Paladin. By the way the Japanese Minister is visiting for the Cup... he was the one who helped get you a passport so quick, so be polite"_

_"I'm always polite!" _Harry said indignantly.

"_I know... I'll see you in Hogwarts this year, considering Shura's coming as well we can carry on your training... well I've got to go, see you soon!"__  
_

_"See ya"_

He put the phone down and looked up at the Weasley's, "What?"

"Technology doesn't work around magic" Hermione said, in her know-it-all-tone.

"The Japanese fixed that problem years ago, you simply charge the tech on magic it can do it itself by taking magic from the surroundings or you can physically charge magic into it for a faster charge"

Hermione stared gob-smacked, 'you really don't know everything Hermione' he thought with a sigh.

* * *

After that, diner continued at a sedated pace, his Exorcist license was handed back after being passed around the table, Bill thoroughly approved him being an Exorcist and wished he himself had gone into the Order when he was younger, the Twins thought it was 'ace' as they put it and really wanted to see his sword and guns, the others were still sceptical and Mrs Weasley was very disapproving (he couldn't quite bring himself to care much though, he would've cared before he found out his father was actually alive, now however he simply thought he didn't need her approval)._  
_

Eventually they went up to bed and everyone quickly fell asleep.

* * *

**And that's all folks!**

**What did you think? we're finally back onto the story. I decided to make this chapter longer to make up for the last one being so short.**

**Well, thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. XD**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hello once again!**

**About the wolf animagus thing, yeah I know they don't look a lot like a husky but if you came across a wolf in a city more than likely you wouldn't think it was a wolf because its so unlikely to see one in a city, and yeah wolves aren't very 'griffindor' brave but Harry was supposed to be a slytherin anyway so its not important... i was more bothered about it being a pack creature, because Harry's like the Alpha of his pack and he's a leader, people listen to him (eventually) so that was my reasoning for the wolf anyway...**

**And sorry for everyone that really likes the quidditch match, I won't be writing out the whole thing...**

**Thanks for all the support guys!**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter! XD **

* * *

"English"

"Emphasis"

'Thoughts'

"_Japanese"_

**"Demon sword Telepathy"**

**"_Demon__ Telepathy"_**

* * *

Chapter 11

Harry woke up the very early next morning, wondering what had woken him up.

He heard the door creak open and reached for the semi-automatic pistol he'd stashed under his pillow, Ron and the Twins were still asleep and in the case of the former snoring loudly, he was missing the security of Mephisto's mansion already (he didn't have to worry about things trying to kill him there...) people always said exorcists were paranoid... better be safe than sorry, he thought as he quietly cocked the hammer on the gun.

The door opened all the way, he tensed, ready to whip the gun out... it was Mrs Weasley. He sighed and put the gun on safety again, before sitting up.

"What time is it?" He asked quietly.

She jumped, evidently she didn't think he'd be up, "Oh Harry dear, wasn't expecting you up already... its a bit before dawn"

That didn't really answer his question... she bustled about the room, waking the others up, whilst Harry got out of bed (discretely slipping the gun back into his uniform he'd set out on the bed side table last night).

"Get ready everyone" Mrs Weasley said as she walked back out the room.

Harry was used to getting up early now, and despite the fact it was still dark outside he wasn't tired, the others were too sleepy to talk as they all got dressed.

Harry pulled on his skinny black jeans, before buttoning up his dark green long sleeved shirt. He decided to wear the holsters for his guns and all the pouches filled with ammo and first aid equipment underneath the coat for stealth purposes and buckled them all on, checking first that everything was in it's correct place. Over that he shrugged on his Exorcist coat (which was actually the extent of the Exorcist's uniform and some didn't even have to wear that) it was all black, lined with silver and came down to just past his knees, it had a large collar that came up quite high on his neck, the jacket crossed over at the front before buttoning up near the left side, he buckled the coats belt and pinned his badge to the right hand side over the breast pocket, and slipped the Exorcist license into the same pocket. He put on some knee-high combat boots before following the others out the room.

As he walked downstairs he wished he could wear his sword, he missed its comforting presence on his back, but he didn't think Mrs Weasley would approve (she'd already stated last night that children shouldn't be trained in things like that, Harry had tried hard not to glare at her for that comment, he was not a child... fair enough he was still a teenager but he wasn't a child) so he kept Senbonzakura inside of the seal on his sternum, he decided to keep an automatic rifle with a scope in the seal on his stomach (Yukio said it was one of his most proficient weapons) and after all you can't be too careful. He had another seal on the inside of his right wrist where he kept a _Tanto_ dagger.

"What do you think?" Mr Weasley said nervously, gesturing to his outfit of a golf shirt and too-big-jeans, "We're supposed to go incognito..."

"Its passable..." Harry said thoughtfully, "you can pass as a mundane with that outfit... not many people would wear something like that, however nowadays people wear really weird stuff all the time, nobody would look twice at an outfit like that"

Mr Weasley nodded relieved.

"Where're Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."

Harry knew that Apparating meant disappearing from one place and reappearing almost instantly in another, but had never known any Hogwarts student to do it, and understood that it was very difficult.

"So they're still in bed?" said Fred grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. Harry had declined the porridge and ate some fruit instead.

"Why can't we Apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," snapped Mrs Weasley. "And where have those girls got to?" She bustled out of the kitchen and they heard her climbing the stairs.

"How are you n-not tir-tired?" Ron asked (yawning) at Harry incredulously.

"I've been getting up at dawn all summer, this isn't much different" Harry said, nonchalantly. The Weasley's stared at him.

There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.

"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr Weasley.

"Walk?" said Harry bemused. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"

"No, no, that's miles away," said Mr Weasley, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup..." he trailed off, the rest was self explanatory.

After Mrs Weasley yelled at Fred and George for having more 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes', they finally set off.

* * *

It was chilly and the moon was still out, Harry was very glad he had his coat and when Ron complained about the cold he calmly pointed out his was his own fault for not bringing a jacket.

"There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we're headed." Mr Weasley said as he pointed ahead of them, where a large black mass rose beyond the village of Ottery St Catchpole.

The trudged down the dark, dank lane towards the village, everyone was quiet, Harry put his earphones in and decided to listen to Evanescence as they walked, he shoved his hands into his pockets for warmth; he was probably the only person not cold.

As they walked through the village the jet blackness of the night turned inky blue, diluting the night sky with the grey-ish rays of pre-dawn.

They all looked incredulously at Harry calmly walking without breaking a sweat whilst they didn't have any breath to spare as they began to climb Stoatshead Hill, stumbling occasionally in hidden rabbit holes, slipping on thick black tufts of grass; their legs seizing up and cramping.

When the ground levelled out Harry put his earphones back in a secure pocket, and watched the others gasping for air. Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side.

"Most wizard's are so unhealthy" he commented offhandedly, ignoring their semi-incredulous semi-glaring looks yet again.

"Now we just need the Portkey," said Mr. Weasley, squinting around at the ground. "It won't be big... Come on..." They spread out, searching. They had only been at it for a couple of minutes, however, when a shout rent the still air.

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it." Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.

"Amos!" said Mr. Weasley, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed.

Mr. Weasley was shaking hands with a ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding a mouldy-looking old boot in his other hand.

"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," said Mr. Weasley. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?" Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen, a sixth year. He was Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team at Hogwarts.

"Hi," said Cedric, looking around at them all. Everybody said hi back except Fred and George, who merely nodded. They had never quite forgiven Cedric for beating their team, Gryffindor, in the first Quidditch match of the previous year.

"All these yours, Arthur?" Amos asked.

"Oh no, only the redheads," said Mr. Weasley, pointing out his children. "This is Hermione, friend of Ron's, and Harry, another friend-"

"Merlin's beard," said Amos Diggory, his eyes widening. "Harry? Harry Potter?"

"yeah," said Harry sharply. Harry was used to people looking curiously at him when they met him, used to the way their eyes moved at once to the lightning scar on his forehead, but it always made him feel distinctly uncomfortable. He preferred it in Japan, even the children were more respectful and only stared for a second before moving on, everyone there seemed to understand he didn't like being stared at.

"Ced's talked about you, of course," said Amos Diggory. "Told us all about playing against you last year... I said to him, I said... Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will... You beat Harry Potter!"

Harry scowled darkly, Fred and George were both scowling again as well. Cedric looked slightly embarrassed.

"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," he muttered. "I told you... it was an accident..."

"Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you?" roared Amos genially, slapping his son on his back. "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman ... but the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

"For you information Diggory-san," Harry began rather venomously, "It was the dementors that caused me to fall, I couldn't see anything but white mist and I heard my mother screaming in my ears, I think I was completely justified with passing out and it had nothing to do with my flying skills"

There was silence at that, and Cedric looked even more embarrassed while his father was gaping wordlessly, Fred and George smirked at how Harry had shut them up, they remembered how frightening it had been when the dementors caused him to fall and weren't happy Mr Diggory was making it seem like Harry's fault.

"Must be nearly time," said Mr. Weasley quickly into the awkward silence, pulling out his watch again. "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?"

"No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets," said Mr. Diggory. "There aren't any more of us in this area, are there?"

"Not that I know of," said Mr. Weasley. "Yes, it's a minute off... We'd better get ready..." He looked around at Harry and Hermione. "You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do"

With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks (that only Harry hadn't struggled to carry that morning), the nine of them crowded around the old boot held out by Amos Diggory. They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop.

"Three." muttered Mr. Weasley, one eye still on his watch, two... one..."

It happened immediately: Harry felt as though a hook just behind his navel had been suddenly jerked forward; it was an incredibly uncomfortable feeling. His feet left the ground; he could feel Ron and Hermione on either side of him, their shoulders banging into his; they were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling colour; his forefinger was stuck to the boot as though it was pulling him magnetically onward and then... His feet slammed into the ground; he immediately bent his knees and crouched spreading his arms out for balance, saving himself from falling unlike the others.

Mr Weasley, Mr Diggory, and Cedric were still standing, though looking very windswept; everybody else was on the ground. Harry stood up from his crouched position and re-tied up his hair. 'Wizards have ridiculous method's of transportation!' he thought vehemently.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said a voice.

* * *

The events following the Portkey incident had Harry repeatedly face palming and groaning at the Wizard's stupidity, especially their muggle fashion sense and the treatment of the muggle camp-site owner, he had decided to put his earphones in and ignore it. Turning the Vocaloids up loud enough that he couldn't hear what was going on.

Eventually they reached a camp-site near a wood with a sign post saying it was theirs.

"Couldn't have a better spot!" said Mr. Weasley happily. "The field is just on the other side of the wood there, we're as close as we could be." He hoisted his backpack from his shoulders. "Right," he said excitedly, "no magic allowed, strictly speaking, not when we're out in these numbers on Muggle land. We'll be putting these tents up by hand! Shouldn't be too difficult... Muggles do it all the time... Here, Harry, where do you reckon we should start?"

Harry sighed putting his music away and completely took over putting the tent up from Mr Weasley... he had the two tents up in no time even though he did all the work himself, they looked very small, but of course with Magic involved the tents were probably like the 'Tardis'.

Mr Weasley dropped to his hands and knees and entered the first tent. "We'll be a bit cramped," he called, "but I think we'll all squeeze in. Come and have a look."

Harry bent down, ducked under the tent flap, and found he was right about it being like the 'Tardis'. He had walked into what looked like an old-fashioned, three room flat, complete with bathroom and kitchen. There were crocheted covers on the mismatched chairs and a strong smell of cats.

"Well, it's not for long," said Mr. Weasley, mopping his bald patch with a handkerchief and peering in at the four bunk beds that stood in the bedroom. I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore." He picked up the dusty kettle and peered inside it. "We'll need water...

"There's a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave us," said Ron, who had followed Harry inside the tent. "It's on the other side of the field."

"Well, why don't you, Harry, and Hermione go and get us some water then" Mr Weasley handed over the kettle and a couple of saucepans - "and the rest of us will get some wood for a fire?"

"But we've got an oven," said Ron. "Why can't we just-"

"Ron, anti-Muggle security!" said Mr Weasley, his face shining with anticipation. "When real Muggles camp, they cook on fires outdoors. I've seen them at it!"

"That's all well and good but can you transfigure one of these saucepans into a big plastic jug or something large with a lid so we don't have too make to many trips to get water." Harry said logically.

"Thats a brilliant idea Harry" Hermione said. 'Why does she always sound surprised when I come up with a good idea?' Harry thought rather annoyed. 'I'm not an idiot'

* * *

Eventually they talked Mr Weasley into Transfiguring two of the saucepans into two clear 3 litre jugs with screw lids, and they set off across the field.

The sun had only just risen and it was misty, people were barely waking up.

A short way farther on, they saw two little witches, who were riding toy broomsticks that rose only high enough for the girl's toes to skim the top of the grass. A Ministry wizard had already spotted them; as he hurried past Harry, Ron, and Hermione he muttered distractedly, "In broad daylight! Parents having a lie-in, I suppose-"

Here and there adult wizards and witches were emerging from their tents and starting to cook breakfast. Some, with furtive looks around them, conjured fires with their wands; others were striking matches with dubious looks on their faces, as though sure it couldn't work (Harry briefly stopped to help an American witch start a fire with a pair flint striking rocks after she'd stopped them to see if they knew how, after instructing her how to do it, she had thanked him profusely and was rather pleased with her newly acquired skill.)

After a run into Seamus they were finally able to get into the line for water. They were right behind a pair of men who were having a heated argument. One of them was a very old wizard who was wearing a long flowery nightgown. The other was clearly a Ministry wizard; he was holding out a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with exasperation. "Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that, the Muggle at the gate's already getting suspicious-"

"I bought this in a Muggle shop," said the old wizard stubbornly. "Muggles wear them."

"Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear these," said the Ministry wizard, and he brandished the pinstriped trousers.

"I'm not putting them on," said old Archie in indignation. "I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks."

Hermione was overcome with such a strong fit of the giggles at this point that she had to duck out of the queue and only returned when Archie had collected his water and moved away. Harry on the other hand had been rather disgusted and commented loudly making sure that the two wizards could here him, "Its no wonder the Wizards are still mainly stuck in the dark ages with attitudes like they are, some people are rather selfish... imagine if our whole society was announced to the muggle world because of some selfish actions"

The Ministry Wizard had looked at him thankfully, when Archie had moodily grabbed the trousers from the Wizard muttering "fine".

* * *

They had finally made it back to their tents, to find Mr Weasley having fun with the matches. Harry face palmed as he dumped the water down.

Splintered matches littered the ground around him, but the red haired adult looked as though he was having the time of his life, "Oops!" he said as he managed to light a match and promptly dropped it in surprise.

Harry took pity on him and lit the fire with the lighter he carried around, after all you never know if you'll need one (well that was is dad's reasoning when he handed him the silver lighter) Hermione looked sharply at him, but didn't say anything as Mr Weasley had pulled him into a conversation over how the lighter worked.

At last after an hour and a half of waiting, the fire was ready, and they had just started cooking eggs and sausages when Bill, Charlie, and Percy came strolling out of the woods toward them.

"Just Apparated, Dad," said Percy loudly, Whilst Harry rolled his eyes from his spot lying on the ground. "Ah, excellent, lunch!"

Instead of the greasy sausages and eggs, Harry used the hot water to fill a cup of Instant Ramen he'd brought with him, garnering some strange looks from the Weasleys, except Bill who asked he'd brought any more packets, Harry handed one over wordlessly. 'At least one of them understands its not healthy to eat stuff like those greasy sausages all the time'

When Ludo had come around to talk to Arthur he had done a double take at Harry's name, causing Harry sigh and lie back on the grass, twirling his knew wand around his hand.

"Hang on a minute... that isn't the same wand you had last year" Hermione said suddenly drawing attention to Harry once again.

**"No Kidding" **Senbonzakura commentated sarcastically. Harry smiled at that, the swords running commentary on life was rather amusing.

"A Bariyon got dropped on it... so of course it broke, and I bought a new one, no big deal"

**"No big deal, hmm?... you made enough of a fuss about it"**

'yeah but now I have a better one, it all worked out in the end'

Crouch had shown up soon after and tried not to mention the Triwizard tournament, Harry had laughed and said "I found out ages ago... and I told all of them yesterday, no point for secrecy over here"

Crouch had been about to ask where he got the information before looking at the coat and badge, "License?" he said sharply holding his hand out, Harry handed it over without another word.

"Well, everything seems in order... bit young aren't you?"

"They don't care about age, they care about skill"

Crouch shut up after that.

* * *

It wasn't long before they were heading off to the Match area. They were soon in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though Harry could see only a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding the field, he could tell that ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it, after seeing True Cross Town though it wasn't very impressive.

"Seats a hundred thousand," said Mr. Weasley, spotting the awestruck look on the other children's face. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again... bless them," he added fondly, Harry thought about that; rather disgusted by the Wizards messing with mundane peoples minds, he definitely didn't agree with that, but knew it was necessary.

Mr Weasley was leading the way toward the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards.

"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, as high as you can go."

The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr Weasley's party kept climbing, and at last they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here, and Harry, filing into the front seats with the Weasleys, looked down upon the stadium.

A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, almost at Harry's eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching it, Harry saw that it was flashing advertisements across the field, He turned away disinterested.

Over the next half an hour the Top box was gradually filling with people, when the Minister had come around Percy had glared at Harry who fudge greeted like an old friend, He tried to gesticulate to the Bulgarian minister (who apparently couldn't speak English) as to who Harry was (Which Senbonzakura found Hilarious) then the Japanese minister had come over.

Harry got up and bowed deeply, "_Hajimemashite, my name is Potter Harry"_

The Minister politely bowed back,"_Hajimemashite, my name is Watanabe Midorima... I must say I was rather surprised when Pheles Mephisto called about getting you a passport into the country, how do you like the Exorcist Order?"_

_"Its certainly a worthwhile cause and I'm looking forward to working with them for the indefinite future... San-kyu for your help"_

_"It was no trouble... did you like Japan?"_

_"It was amazing and everyone was really welcome and friendly, your culture is amazing Watanabe-san"_

_"I am pleased to hear that... it's good to watch the more wizarding sports once in a while, Most people in Japan prefer Mundane sports such as baseball and football."_

_"Quidditch is a lot of fun but Baseball's probably safer" _he said with a laugh.

They talked for a while longer, whilst those around them looked on in confusion, obviously not knowing how to speak Japanese.

"Harry" He heard some one call.

He turned around, it was the Paladin, decked out in his usual White and gold suit.

"Angel-san," Harry said after saying goodbye to the Japanese Minister, "Nice to see you again"

"Like wise... If anything Happens we have people all over the stadium... more than likely though we're here for nothing"

He heard Hermione let out a strangled gasp, she was staring at the massive sword that is Caliburn with wide eyes, "Is it even safe to carry something like that around?"

Angel looked at her strangely while Harry sighed, "Hermione, Caliburn is perfectly safe, Arthur A Angel is the current paladin, he's the strongest of all the exorcists... Handling Caliburn is like child's play to him"

"It has a name?" she asked faintly.

"Yes Hermione" Harry said patronizingly, "My sword has a name too... Senbonzakura" he added with pride.

The Paladin sat down next to Harry, setting Caliburn to rest between them.

"You weren't kidding about the Exorcist thing were you?" Ron said faintly.

"Of course not" Harry scoffed.

"Ah... Here's Lucius" They heard Fudge say.

They all turned around quickly, baring Harry and Angel who did so at a more sedated pace.

There was Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy and a woman who could only be his mother. Harry and Draco had been enemies since an altercation on the train first year, recently however Harry had decided that it was a petty and rather pathetic grudge... in other words he was over it, and had decided to be the mature one.

The minister said Hello and introduced everyone, when it got to the Weasley's it had been tense (not that fudge could tell) Mr Malfoy and Mr Weasley did not get along at all... Draco had shot them a contemptuous look, but spotted the badge on Harry's chest and his jaw had dropped.

"Is that real?" He stammered, sounding slightly envious.

Harry sighed, he was making a Habit out of this, he thought as he handed the Exorcist License over, Malfoy had stared at it gob-smacked, before handing it back.

"How'd you get into the Order anyway?" Malfoy asked curiously, ignoring Ron's and Hermione's contemptuous looks.

"short version is... I went up to a high ranking exorcist and asked if I could join, then spent the whole summer training... why'd you ask?"

Malfoy hesitated "I've always wanted to get into the True Cross Order but never knew how..."

"Well one of the Honorary Knights will be at Hogwarts this year, you can ask then... Why'd you want to join? its rather gruelling training and names matter little in the order" Harry said, Angel nodded approvingly to what he was saying.

"One of them saved my life when I was about 3... always wanted to join ever since then"

"Like Harry said" Angel interrupted, "you will be able to discuss it this year at Hogwarts, if you still want to join, of course, we welcome any who put the effort in"

Malfoy nodded thoughtfully, then he heard his mothers voice.

"Draco dear, you'll have to sit on the front row there aren't any seats left over here"

He grumbled but walked round and ended up sitting next to the Paladin, apparently people were too afraid to sit next to him so the seat was empty.

"What was that all about?" Ron whispered angrily.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Why were you being so pally with Malfoy?"

"I wasn't, I have merely decided to be civil... what was the whole rivalry over anyway? its stupid and its childish... haven't you ever heard the saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me'?"

He then tuned out Ron's spluttering, as Ludo Bagman ran into the Room, ready to start the match.

* * *

When the Mascots came out, Harry had to tug Ron back to into his seat before he leapt of the side of the box, Draco and the other Weasley's had wisely covered their ears, the Paladin laughed at the red haired boy.

It was at that point Angel decided to ask what the game was actually about, he'd never cared enough about the game to find out before now, and so Harry explained whilst the other Mascots came out.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome... the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you... Dimitrov!"

A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.

"Ivanova!" A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.

"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand... Krum!"

"That's him, that's him!" yelled Ron, following Krum with his Omnioculars. Harry quirked an eyebrow at him, Malfoy laughed at Ron being a fan-boy.

Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey. It was hard to believe he was only eighteen.

"And now, please greet the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting... Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand... Lynch!"

* * *

The Match was rather interesting, made all the better by Senbonzakura's comments (such as **"Oh look, that idiot has fallen for the same trick again" **or his favourite **"Could Hermione scream any louder there are people in Russia that are wondering who's about to crash" **he had to desperately stop himself from laughing a couple of times) In the end...

"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH. BUT IRELAND WINS. Good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

Harry sighed, it was a good match but he didn't get much out of watching other people play, he preferred to play the game himself.

"Vell, ve fought bravely," said a gloomy voice behind Harry. He looked around; it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.

"You can speak English!" said Fudge, sounding outraged. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"

"Veil, it vos very funny," said the Bulgarian minister, shrugging. Harry alongside of the Japanese minister and Draco burst out laughing, Fudge's face was priceless.

The best part was when Fred and George scrambled over their seats with huge grins on their faces and hands outstretched for their winnings, as they had successfully predicted the outcome of the match.

"Well nothing did happen... We were here for nothing", Angel said standing up.

"Not a bad match though" Harry said.

"Agreed... however our presence was useless all the same"

* * *

They eventually left the Top Box and headed back to their tent.

They were soon arguing enjoyably about the match; Mr Weasley got drawn into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, and it was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that Mr. Weasley called a halt to the verbal replays and insisted that everyone go to bed. Hermione and Ginny went into the next tent, and the rest of the Weasleys changed into pyjamas and clambered into their bunks. From the other side of the camp-site they could still hear much singing and the odd echoing bang.

"Oh I am glad I'm not on duty," muttered Mr Weasley sleepily. "I wouldn't fancy having to go and tell the Irish they've got to stop celebrating."

Harry on the other hand had forgotten to pack his pyjamas (that's what he told Ron anyway, in fact he just couldn't fit them in his backpack because he'd put extra ammo in instead) so just took his coat off and settled down.

He drifted off quickly but was soon awoken by loud banging and panicked shouts, he knew something was wrong, he leapt of the top bunk and pulled on his coat but didn't Button it up as Mr Weasley ran in and woke Ron up. They ran outside.

By the light of the few fires that were still burning, he could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field toward them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire. Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene.

A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching across the field. Harry gazed at them... he realized that their heads were hooded and their faces masked. High above them, floating along in mid-air, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air. Two of the figures were very small. Harry growled angrily.

More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. Once or twice Harry saw one of the marchers blast a tent out of his way with his wand. Several caught fire. The screaming grew louder. He saw Angel running in their direction drawing Caliburn.

The floating people were suddenly illuminated as they passed over a burning tent and Harry recognized one of them: Mr Roberts, the camp-site manager. The other three looked as though they might be his wife and children. One of the marchers below flipped Mrs Roberts upside down with his wand; her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted with glee.

"That's sick," Ron muttered, watching the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "That is really sick"

Hermione and Ginny came hurrying toward them, pulling coats over their nightdresses, with Mr. Weasley right behind them. At the same moment, Bill, Charlie, and Percy emerged from the boys' tent, fully dressed, with their sleeves rolled up and their wands out.

"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. "You lot... get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

Harry was already running towards the Wizards though, ignoring them yelling for him to come back, he pulled his shirt down slightly and chanted _"Devour the eight princesses, slay the serpent"_

He pulled his sheathed sword from the seal and slung it over his back and drew the blade.

From somewhere to the right, Angel joined him. "Try to keep the perpetrators alive considering they're human and not demons... however if you can't... the scum won't be missed" he said darkly.

"_Hai"_ He answered immediately.

"Try to distract them, I'll get the mundane's down... We had already sent the other Exorcist's home, its just us left... consider this you first proper mission."

"Got it"

He ran faster as Angel dropped back and drew his wand. He stopped in-front of the crowd, some of them laughed at what they saw as a child with a sword that was too big for him, he could hear Ministry Wizards trying to get through and telling him to get back.

"You sick bastards, what did they ever do to you?" He shouted angrily, he was answered with more laughing. "... _chire, Senbonzakura"_ he called.

His blade disintegrated into what appeared to be thousands of Pink petals, leaving just the hilt behind. Angel who had never seen the capabilities of the sword was impressed, unlike others he saw the petals for what they really were.

The laughing had teetered out, replaced by confusion. Three of the smarter Wizards apparated out.

He raised the hilt and the 'Harmless' petals shot towards the masked men, they tried shooting spells at it but it was an unstoppable force and reached the first Wizard in seconds, he screamed as the tiny blades (that merely reflected light to appear to be petals) cut through him, leaving him with thousands of tiny bleeding lacerations, he dropped to the dirt floor, barely breathing. Harry dully recognized Angel getting the Mundane family back on the ground, But didn't let up... and began using his other hand to control the blades as well increasing thier speed. He cut through four more wizards before they got over thier shock and tried shooting spells at him, he dodged most of them by stepping nimbly to the side and blocked the others with more blades. Then he heard someone cry "Avada Kedavra"

The spell felt menacing and familiar but he didn't recognize it, he stomped his foot down and a large block of earth shot out of the ground and blocked it. He kicked the stone and flew with unnerving accuracy into the Wizard who had cried out the spell. Angel (satisfied that the family was safe) jumped into action and unleashed a sort wave of golden energy from Caliburn.

"Harry... Avada Kedavra is the killing curse, they're not messing around, forget my previous order, its them or you now."

Harry nodded, and continued on with his attack only he was much harsher than before, Senbonzakura's petals slashed easily through them at the same time that Angel was slashing them with Caliburn. The Ministry Wizards finally joined in and started shooting spells at the masked ones.

Then they heard more screaming, the remaining masked men fled, apparating away. Harry turned to Angel confused as he materialized Senbonzakura in his hand once more, "Why'd they run?"

"Look" He said grimly. Harry turned around, there was a glowing green skull with a snake coming out of its mouth hanging over the forest. Harry was instantly worried about the others.

"That's Voldemort mark" Angel said. Ministry wizards were apparating away as well. "Grab my arm"

Harry did so, feeling stupid and confused. Arthur turned on his heel and then there was an unpleasant sensation of being shoved through a small pipe.

They landed in a dark wood, They heard around 20 voices shout "STUPEFY"

"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognized. "STOP! That's my son!"

Ron and Hermione were on the ground, the jets of red light had just soared over their heads.

"Ron... Hermione are you alright?" Mr Weasley asked, striding forward.

"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice. It was Mr Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Mr Crouch's face was taut with rage.

"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"

"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping, he looked distinctly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Don't be ridiculous, their just kids" Angel said striding forward, Harry trailed after him, sheathing his sword.

"Harry!" Ron and Hermione called.

Hermione strode forward and slapped him straight across the face with a resounding crack, his head snapped to the side. The Ministry wizards and Ron stared in shock. Angel tried not to laugh.

"What was that for?!" Harry asked incredulously.

"Don't you ever do something like that again! Do you have any idea how worried we were?! You just ran off without a word to us! you could have been hurt or killed! You are a complete ass, Harry Potter!"

Then she broke down and started crying, she grabbed his shirt and cried into his chest, muttering about 'insensitive jerks' 'complete morons' and 'no tact'. Harry looked awkwardly at Ron for help, but he'd started to laugh uncontrollably.

She finally stopped crying when the Ministry wizards found the house elf Winky, Harry scowled when he saw the treatment of the elf but ignored it and left as soon as Ron got his wand back, 'apparently' the elf had stolen it.

Angel had a report to make, so he left as well, but not before congratulating Harry on a job well done. Crouch had originally wanted to confiscate Senbonzakura as evidence but Angel had rightly stated that he had no right to it (Not before Harry had starting yelling at him though and loudly telling him where-to-go, shocking the two Weasley's and Hermione).

* * *

When they had finally got back to the tent, the others had been very worried but all alright, the twins had practically swooned at the sight of the sword and had begged him to be able to actually hold it... Harry agreed, but said they couldn't draw it.

They'd held the Sword with reverence, which made Senbonzakura happy at least.

Ginny had lectured him as well, but this time he'd been prepared and dodged the slap.

Suffice to say Harry was very Happy to go back to the Burrow the next day.

All he had to deal with then was a very disapproving, overbearing Mrs Weasley (who thankfully didn't find out about him fighting the death eaters, the papers just said it was a pair of exorcists, apparently Harry was hard to identify with long green hair and an Exorcist uniform and Mrs Weasley didn't connect the dots, plus no one thought it was a good idea to tell her) and he had a long Phone call from a proud (yet distinctly worried) Father, who was not happy with how close he'd come to being hit with another Avada Kedavra, Harry almost wished that Angel hadn't given Amaimon his report on the incident.

After the World cup, time passed very quickly for them and school began to loom ever closer.

* * *

**And that's it for this chapter.**

**Thank you for all your support! XD **


	13. Chapter 12

**Hello! XD**

**Okay I apologize about the Alpha thing, I am not wolf expert so... oh well...**

**And Ron ****won't**** be a death eater, that thought didn't cross my mind for a second, that just sounds really weird... and as for Draco remembering being saved by an Exorcist at three years old, I think nearly being ripped apart by demons would be traumatizing enough to be remembered even if he was a small child.**

**Ron and Harry and Hermione will grow further apart, they won't stop being friends entirely but they certainly won't be as close as they were... As for more Wizard exorcists... I'll leave that as a surprise.**

**Harry will definitely be awesome at herbology and be better friends with Neville (who will be a better friend than Ron).**

**Right to answer this: "you said the hamster was an animal form for demons I think that is actually wrong. I think the hamster was merely a vessel that Amaimon was put in to keep hidden or possibly as punishment." I don't know what it actually is in the anime especially because Mephisto can turn into that little dog and he never said what it was except it was a special ability he could do... I honestly don't know what it is in the actual anime... however in this story I'm making it a form of shape shifting because it will be semi-important later on, they transform with a little puff of smoke like a Naruto transformation and then they are in the animal form (like Mephisto does). **

**Draco won't be a death eater... probably... I don't think the role of death eater ever suited him anyway...**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter! XD**

* * *

"English"

"emphasis" **  
**

'thoughts'

_"Japanese"_

**"Demon sword telepathy"**

**_"Demon telepathy"_**

* * *

Chapter 12

Harry had been tempted to tell Ron and Hermione about the Horcrux in his scar and about the whole half demon thing... but decided against it, he couldn't be sure how they'd react and didn't think it was a good idea, the day they'd got back from the Quidditch cup they'd been greeted by an incredibly worried Mrs Weasley who had heard about the death eaters through the prophet... luckily she didn't notice Bill and Charlie sending impressed looks Harry's way every few seconds, and connect him to the "Two Exorcists" that the paper said saved the day.

Nai had rocketed out of the burrow with the speed of a jet and began berating Harry as soon as he saw him, it was ranting its tiny little head off, and no one knew what it was saying...

"Nai, Nai, Naaaaai" it had repeatedly and angrily shouted at him. Harry now wished he had brought the greenman with him to the cup, it would have saved a lot of hassle.

According to Mrs Weasley it had been reading the paper with her... Nai also learnt his first proper word and could now say (telepathically) Harry's name. Harry was glad though that the Weasleys had all gotten used to the greenman, and did no longer try to talk him out of keeping it.

* * *

Over the following week neither Mr Weasley or Percy were seen much, going to work early and returning late at night. Nai didn't let Harry out of his sight, like a tiny little green guard dog.

The only thing that happened worthy of noting was Amaimon called again.

**Flashback start**

_Harry had been for a run early in the morning, dawn had just broke, when he heard his phone ringing, he put it to his ear._

_"Moshi, Moshi" Harry said, smiling when he heard his father reply._

_"Hello Harry, before I get to the main reason I called, I want to say I'm proud of you son you did good work at the Cup... however I've read Angel's report and I know exactly how close you came to being hit with another killing curse! Now I am telling you to be careful! lots of things will be happening this year, this may be your most dangerous year yet and I am telling you to be careful understood?!"_

_"Hai... I'll be careful"_

_"Good, now to the main reason I called... The Grigori got jumpy because of the Death Eater attack and Dark Mark, they're worried about that prophecy you mentioned, the one Trelawney gave you before peter escaped... they don't want Voldemort back to power, last time they had no idea what was going on as the Ministry wouldn't tell them... now they do and they don't like it, especially not with the Horcruxes involved..."_

_"Okay... but what's that got to do with anything?" Harry asked._

_"If you'll let me finish" Amaimon said, "Because they got jumpy and especially since its the tournament this year, they're sending more people to Hogwarts... Rin, Yukio and Myself are transferring into fourth year, claiming to be 17, the excuse is that we had latent magical ability that we didn't know about and it only just showed up... I'll be dyeing my hair black and posing as another Okumura, Of course we'll still say we're Exorcists so it won't be weird to everyone else if you appear to be friends with us"_

_"That's awesome!" Harry said excitedly. _

_Amaimon said "Glad you're excited... I'll see you at Hogwarts" with that said he hung up._

**Flash back end**

With that over with, Harry was rather bored, he was reading through Hermione's old Arithmancy and Runes books, His fluffy tail tip was twitching lazily next to him.

Mrs Weasley had gone to Diagon Alley for all of them, to save them the trip, parcels lay all over his bed.

His attention was taken from his reading when Ron made a noise of disgust.

"What is this thing?!"

Harry turned to him, he was holding up a long maroon velvet dress with mouldy frilly cuffs. He successfully managed not to laugh but his tail swished in amusement.

There was a knock on the door, and Mrs Weasley entered, carrying an armful of freshly laundered Hogwarts robes, "Here you are," she said, sorting them into two piles. "Now, mind you pack them properly so they don't crease."

"Mum, you've given me Ginny's new dress," said Ron, handing it out to her.

"Of course I haven't," said Mrs Weasley. "That's for you, Dress robes, the rest of the suit set is there somewhere."

"What?" said Ron, looking horror-struck.

"Dress robes!" repeated Mrs Weasley. "It says on your school list that you're supposed to have dress robes this year... robes for formal occasions, they also said you need special sports clothes we had to buy them from madam malkins they'd never stocked them before...must be important though."

Both his and Ron's sports wear were made up of red tracksuit bottoms and matching zip up Hoodie with the Hogwarts logo over the right breast as well as a white t-shirt, they had shorts as well as an alternative. 'they must be coloured according to house' he mused.

"You've got to be kidding," said Ron in disbelief, ignoring the information about sports gear. "I'm not wearing that robe, no way."

"Everyone wears them, Ron!" said Mrs Weasley crossly. "They're all like that! Your father's got some for smart parties!"

"I'll go starkers before I put that on," said Ron stubbornly.

"Don't be so silly," said Mrs. Weasley. "You've got to have dress robes, they're on your list! I got some for Harry too, show him, Harry..."

Harry opened the last parcel on his camp bed. It wasn't as bad as he had expected; his dress robes didn't have any lace on them at all... in fact, they were more or less the same as his school ones, except that they were bottle green instead of black, the suit part looked like something from James bond, he thought with a mental grimace.

"I thought they'd bring out the colour of your eyes, dear," said Mrs Weasley fondly.

"Well, they're okay!" said Ron angrily, looking at Harry's robes. "Why couldn't I have some like that?"

"Because... well, I had to get yours second-hand, and there wasn't a lot of choice!" said Mrs Weasley, flushing.

"I'm never wearing them," Ron was saying stubbornly. "Never."

"Fine," snapped Mrs Weasley, "Go naked. And, Harry, make sure you get a picture of him. Goodness knows I could do with a laugh."

"Ron..." Harry began drawing his and Mrs Weasley's attention to him before she walked out, "You can have mine, they'll only need some minor alterations... I've got a formal outfit from Japan that I was going to wear... I'll be more comfy in my Hakama and Kurosode anyway" He chucked his dress robes at Ron.

"Mate, I can't just-" "You don't have t-" Ron and Mrs Weasley said at the same time.

"Ron shut up and stop being stubborn... and Mrs Weasley, thank you for getting them for me, but they're really not my style and I wouldn't feel comfortable in them anyway."

"Mate-"

"Ron... just take them... besides i'm doing the rest of the school a favour, imagine the mental scaring if you went in nothing at all" He added with a smirk.

"Oi" the red head responded, chucking a pillow at him, he dodged and it knocked Nai of the bed.

They all laughed at the little demons indignant spluttering.

* * *

There was a gloomy atmosphere the next morning, the end of the holidays had arrived of course and with it the classic end-of-holidays-gloom.

Harry was the first up (as usual), he dressed simply in a dark green and black Plaid shirt, black skinny jeans, converse and a black leather jacket. He had already double checked he had all of his things packed, and had put his school uniform in an easy to reach place, and had slipped his Walkman and Phone into his jeans pockets, all by the time Ron's alarm clock went off.

The usual morning routine was interrupted by Diggory (who Harry glared at) calling through the Floo to tell Mr Weasley that someone called 'Mad-eye-Moody' was in-trouble with the Ministry and they had to try get him off with a 'minor charge'.

Arthur left, leaving Mrs Weasley to get them to the station, they had to take Taxi's... needless to say it didn't go very well and the Taxi drivers were very harassed, by the end of the trip to London, Harry had spent the trip listening to loud heavy metal and laughing at drivers discomfort.

Eventually they were seated in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express watching the very rainy scenery pass by.

Neville came by and sat with them for a while, and shortly after that Malfoy came in. Harry ignored him or rather didn't notice him come in, he was engrossed in his tablet (how in hell the Asian countries had managed to put secret satellites all over the atmosphere so you can get internet anywhere was beyond him, he chalked it up to 'magic' and left it at that) he'd managed to get Crunchy roll and was now watching 'Hozuki no Reitetsu' which he found hilarious, Nai watching over his shoulder.

He paused the video, when heard malfoy ('seriously when did he get here?') say, "Are you going to enter?"

To which Ron 'smartly' replied, "What are you talking about?"

"He's referring to the Triwizard tournament... I did tell you about it remember?" Harry said, "And Malfoy... none of us will be able to enter... the Exorcists refused to help out until the ministry put had an Age limit on the tournament, we have to be at least 17 to enter."

Malfoy left soon after, and Ron slammed the door so hard the glass shattered, Harry repaired it and then went back to his episode. Hermione muttered about him being 'antisocial' but he didn't really care, 'Anime is Awesome enough said'.

* * *

In no time at all they were pulling into the station and stepping on the platform clad in thier uniform, leaving thier trunks on the train. Nai stayed behind in Hedwig's vacant cage as the white owl was off delivering a letter to Sirius.

They said "Hi" to Hagrid who said he'd see them at the feast if they didn't drown first, he vaguely spotted three people who where too big to be first years and laughed at the thought of them all crossing the lake in this weather.

Harry wondered what the things pulling the carriages were, and decided to ask his father when he got the chance, everyone else didn't seem to be able to see them.

When they finally got to the entrance hall of the school, they were all glad to be out of the rain.

"Finall-" Ron began to say when a large red water balloon splashed on his head, Harry jumped out of the way of the water laughing.

It was peeves apparently he'd decided to prank them all on thier first day back, he threw more balloons as most people legged it into the hall and out of range.

Professor McGonagall came running over, "PEEVES-" but managed to slip on the wet floor... Harry caught her before she fell. "Thank you Mister Potter"

"No problem Professor"

She turned back to the Poltergeist "PEEVES, stop this right now before I call the Headmaster!"

Peeves scowled at her but flew off nonetheless.

"Move along everyone" McGonagall instructed, leaving to probably greet the first years and transfers.

* * *

The Great Hall was no less grand than any other year however now it didn't seem as majestic, 'I've really been spoiled by Japan' he thought with a sigh.

The hall was filled with chattering students in varying stages of drying off from the rain, the teachers all were seated at the head table however this time there four extra places in-between where Mcgonagall usually sits and where Snape was currently sat (looking like he wished he wasn't) filled by very familiar people, he waved at them enthusiastically and they replied in turn (Shura more enthusiastically than Angel and Mephisto with his usual wink included).

"Who are they? and why'd you know them?" Ron asked loudly and bluntly, although other Griffindors in the vicinity looked like they wanted to ask as well.

"From left to right on the table... Shura Kirigakure, Arthur Auguste Angel (who you've already met), Lewin Light (alias Lightning), and Mephisto Pheles who also goes by Johann Faust the Fifth, all Exorcists for the True Cross Order, an Upper first Class, the Paladin, Arc Knight (part of the Angelic legion team) and an Honorary Knight (also called Chancellor). " Harry stated. "Oh... and Angels sword Caliburn is resting against Angel-sans chair of course."

Several of the upper year Griffindors nearby who had been eavesdropping, looked very surprised, and were gazing wide-eyed at the large broad sword.

Harry ignored them and sat down, Ron and Hermione trailing after him.

They couldn't spot anyone new other than the Exorcists, the new Defence Professor was missing.

"Maybe they couldn't get anyone" Hermione said worriedly.

"Maybe He or She hasn't arrived yet... Angel-san could probably take the post though, he's pretty amazing when it comes to magic... and to be fair Mephisto could bluff his way through it and we probably wouldn't know the difference" Harry finished with a laugh.

* * *

McGonagall came in shortly afterwards leading the first years plus three teenagers up to the front, where she sat down a stool and put a hat onto it, everyone waited for the hat to sing but Harry and the Exorcists burst out laughing before it could, cutting the Hat off just as if opened its rim.

The cause of the Laughter was the three sopping wet black haired teenagers stood at the back of the line of first years, they were drenched in muddy water and Rin and Amaimon had seaweed stuck in their hair.

"_This isn't funny!_" Rin and Yukio snapped glaring at them.

"_It is_" Harry managed to gasp out through his laughter.

_"It wasn't our fault, something tipped the boat first off and then I had to dive in again when one of the kids fell in" _Rin continued angrily.

Rin's robes suddenly started to thrash about, he reached his hand into his thrashing pocket and pulled out... a large fish.

Amaimon and Yukio joined in the laughing, as did the rest of the school. Rin threw the fish at Harry (who was by far the loudest laugher) he ducked under the airborne water creature and it hit the wall before flopping for a while.

Filch rushed over to get rid of the fish, whilst the school carried on laughing as Rin and Amaimon started arguing (well it was more like Rin was shouting in Japanese and Amaimon was responding with his usual apathetic face).

Everyone eventually calmed down, and Dumbledore stood up. "As you have by now noticed we have three older and yet new students... Exorcists who have recently discovered latent Magical ability, they might be as old as 7th years but they will be going into the 4th year... you may now carry on with the sorting Professor McGonagall"

* * *

Harry mainly ignored the sorting until all the first years were done and all were left was his father and uncles.

McGonagall pulled out another list.

"Okumura, Rin"

Rin stomped up to the hat and jammed it on his head.

They weren't waiting very long before the hat shouted, "GRIFFINDOR!"

Rin sat down across from Harry.

"Okumura, Amaimon"

Amaimon unlike Rin walked calmly up to the hat, and placed it on his head, covering the now black spike of hair he had (Harry had decided his Father looked very strange with black hair and missing his reddy-brown coat with bones on it, he hoped the dye would eventually come out...) The hat took a lot longer to decide on Amaimon than Rin, it was easily 10 minutes, Harry figured it was because he had more memories to sieve through (he also severely hoped that the hat would keep its confidentiality and not tell Dumbledore there was a Demon King who used to be James potter masquerading as a student once again).

After what seemed like an age, and Harry was positive only him, Rin and Draco (who's figurative ears had perked when he heard they were exorcists ) from the student body were still paying attention. Amaimon had put a lolly pop in his mouth and was looking very bored.

The hat finally decided to call out "GRIFFINDOR!" everyone not paying attention jumped.

Amaimon walked over and sat next to Harry.

"Okumura, Yukio"

Yukio pushed up his glasses as he walked, still trying to look dignified despite being soaking wet, and let McGonagall put the Hat on his head.

The Hat took a while to decide his place as well, though no where near as long as Amaimon's.

"SLYTHERIN!"

'Makes sense' Harry mused 'he is very ambitious, and you'd have to be cunning to hide the fact you're an exorcist form your twin brother for as many years as he did'

Yukio walked over to the green clad table and sat next to Malfoy; who had forced Crabbe to move over distinctly making a space for the glasses wearing exorcist to sit.

"What are the traits for the Green house again?" Rin asked.

"Being a Slimy Git that's what" Ron said tactlessly. Harry, Rin and Amaimon glared at him. Hermione shook her head at his idiocy, she couldn't believe he'd come out with that right in-front of Yukio's brothers.

"There's nothing wrong with Yukio!" Harry snapped before Rin or Amaimon could strangle the red head, "Not all slytherins are bad, don't judge them all on the actions of a few!" Practically the entire Hall was eavesdropping on them now, even the teachers.

"What's got into you?" Ron asked scandalized at the thought of Harry not hating slytherins on principal, several other Griffindors nearby muttered angrily in agreement.

"I grew up, " Harry replied simply, "There's nothing wrong with being ambitious and cunning, and not every Slytherin is going to grow up and be a death eater, the world isn't so black and white. Have you ever wondered why Slytherin puts out so many dark wizards? people aren't born evil and wanting to take over the world (you don't see little two year olds planning world domination whilst lying in their cribs) people become who they are due to the actions and influence of other people... most Sociopaths and Megalomaniacs become who they are because they were picked on as kids (when you're most easily influenced I might add)... because other people hated them, bullied them and made them feel low and hurt them, they become what they are because they don't want it to happen again..." Harry was in full lecture mode and couldn't believe he was so stupid in his previous years, "If the whole world is saying 'you're a Slytherin that means your a dark wizard' will any of them bother to fight it, Slytherin probably creates more dark wizards because the rest of the prejudiced world pushes them to it... the whole stupid house system just creates Prejudice."

Ron gaped at him like a fish, along with many other Griffindors including the rest of the Weasley's. Fred and George looked thoughtful though. McGonagall, Dumbledore, Amaimon and the other Exorcists looked proud. Snape looked gob-smacked.

"What do you mean 'The house system creates prejudice'?" Hermione asked, "The hat judges you and puts you with people similar to you, so you fit in.." she said in her know-it-all voice.

"Thats the problem exactly... it puts people who are similar together, people who are similar have the same strengths and weaknesses, it leaves you no room to grow as an individual person you'll always then be part of a stereotypical collective, people should try to have traits from all of the houses not just one... plus it also leaves you strategically weak because you all have the same weakness meaning you would be easy to topple and defeat whereas in a varied group you can compensate for each other weaknesses, that's what being part of a team is about... it also means you judge each other automatically based on what house you're in, people think the Hufflepuffs are all weak and useless, that Griffindors are brash, loud and run into any situation blind with no planning, Ravenclaws are all supposed to be ridiculously smart and studious and Slytherins are all horrible bullies and Emo's who hate the world... that's not true! not everyone is the same, Hufflepuffs aren't useless not all Griffindors are loud, not every Ravenclaw is a genius and not all Slytherins are bullies who brood a lot (you'll find bullies in all the houses not just one!)."

Harry finally calmed down enough to shut up and realise that everyone had been listening in, he turned away from Ron who looked conflicted on whether to be abashed or angry and Hermione looked like she'd had a revelation (it was kind of creepy). Mephisto clapped loudly, smirking smugly, Harry scowled and was tempted to throw one of the gold gilded plates at the purple haired demon for embarrassing him further.

He gave in to temptation and hurled it at him shouting "_Urusai!_", Mephisto just made it appear back on harry's table in an puff of smoke with an "Eins. Zwei. Drei" and Harry was left to grumble about "Purple haired bakas who mess with the fabric of space and time" causing Hermione and several muggleborns to look at him funny, whilst Amaimon and Rin laughed.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and pretended that nothing had happened (which Harry was thankful for). "I have only two words to say... Tuck in"

The food magically appeared, startling Rin and Yukio. They all tucked into the food enthusiastically, Luckily for the 'transfers' they had seen fit to put out many Japanese dishes, Rin went for _Sukiyaki _whereas Amaimon and Harry targeted the _Dango_ and _Onigiri_. The others baring Yukio all ignored the foreign food in favour of things they knew.

Mephisto was talking to McGonagall and smirking in his usual fashion, she was blushing a lot and giggling, people all across the hall were staring at her in shock, "He could probably charm anything" Harry muttered, Rin and Amaimon followed his gaze and laughed.

"I doubt that" Hermione said huffily, coincidently ignoring all the 7th year girls staring at the King of time and blushing, the Exorcists shared a look and laughed.

"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know," said Nearly Headless Nick. "There was trouble in the kitchens earlier."

"Why? Wha' 'appened?" said Ron, through a sizable chunk of well-done steak.

"Peeves, of course," said Nearly Headless Nick. "The usual argument. He wanted to attend the feast... well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivilized, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghost's council, the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance, but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down."

"He's lucky we don't Exorcise him" Harry snapped, he hated that poltergeist, Amaimon nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something earlier," said Ron darkly. "So what did he do in the kitchens?"

"Oh the usual," said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house elves out of their wits-"

Clang. Hermione had knocked over her goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, dyeing several feet of white linen orange, but Hermione paid no attention. "Evanesco" Harry said drawing his wand and getting rid of the juice.

"There are house-elves here?" she said horror-struck. "Here at Hogwarts?"

"Certainly," said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred."

"I've never seen one!" said Hermione.

"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick. "They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning... see to the fires and so on... I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?"

Hermione stared at him. "But they get paid?" she said. "They get holidays, don't they? And sick leave, and pensions, and everything?"

Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck. "Sick leave and pensions?" he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. "House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!"

Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her.

"Oh c'mon, 'Er-my-knee," said Ron, accidentally spraying the first year next to him with bits of Yorkshire pudding, Hogwarts resident Exorcists stared in disgust. "Oops.. sorry" He swallowed. "You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself!"

"Slave labour," said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. Slave labour." And she refused to eat another bite. Harry left her to it, if she was going to be stupid let her, she'd have given in by tomorrow.

The rain was still drumming heavily against the glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings.

"Treacle tart, Hermione!" said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. "Spotted dick, look!-" Rin laughed, Hermione and Amaimon gave him a scathing look for being immature, "-Chocolate gateau!" Ron continued on like Rin hadn't uttered a sound.

Hermione gave Ron a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up. When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs successfully vanished off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean once more, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again.

He said the usual Announcements before saying, "And it is my painful duty to inform you that the inter house quidditch cup will not be taking place this year-"

There was an instant uproar, Harry had been expecting this and therefore didn't say anything, Ron, Fred and George were very vocal though.

Dumbledore continued on regardless, "This is due to an event starting in October-"

The great Hall doors banged open, a man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black travelling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swivelled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. Rin reached for where he sword usually was, but his hand grasped at thin air, Amaimon tensed and looked ready to fight, Harry wordlessly summoned a Kunai from the seal on right wrist (it was a weapon traditionally used by Ninja's, a kind of knife) he held it in reverse grip, just in case the stranger was looking for a fight or was worse a demon. Hermione muttered "Paranoid" under her breath, at least she'd got more used to the Exorcist thing, it made it considerably less awkward for Harry. Harry saw Angel reaching discretely for Caliburn's handle.

The stranger lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, limp, grey-ish brown hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step, he had a peg leg Harry and the others noted as a possible weakness. He reached the top table, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped. The Exorcists narrowed thier eyes, 'Clearly a Veteran' they thought.

The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike most of the children had ever seen, Harry and the others had seen worse on Naberius and weren't fazed for a second. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had never seen a human before, and wasn't very skilled with a chisel and hammer. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening to the majority of the populace.

One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye, and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness, 'it must be able to see through objects' they mused. Mephisto narrowed his eyes at the man, his energy signature was very strange.

The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side. The Exorcists all relaxed slightly but Harry slipped the Kunai into his pocket instead of the seal, just in case.

"May I introduce the new Defence against the Darks arts Professor Moody"

Only the Exorcists, Hagrid and Dumbledore himself clapped, everyone else mutely stared at Moody in shock.

After Dumbledore announced the Triwizard tournament he finally moved onto the Exorcists.

"May I now introduce... Miss Shura Kirigakure, Arthur A Angel, Lewin Light (who would rather go by Lightning) and Mephisto Pheles" They all nodded in acknowledgement when he announced there names, "They are Exorcists from the True Cross order, and are here to assist in the tournament and defend the school from the Demons who's presence have recently been on the rise, as well as this Miss or should I say Professor Kirigakure (with Professor Pheles as an assistant) will be teaching 'Kenjutsu' otherwise known as the Japanese art of the sword and Hand to Hand self defence-"

"Yes, a class I'll finally be good at!" Rin and Harry exclaimed, high five-ing each other.

Shura laughed, "Yeah, you'll actually be better your peers for once"

"HEY!"

Dumbledore laughed before continuing. "this class will be on a Saturday (baring Hogsmeade weekends) and last for two hours, the houses will all be together and separated only by year... first and second years together, then third, fourth and fifth years together and then sixth and seventh years... as well as this there will also be a Physical education class under Professors Angel and Lightning with the same grouping, also on Saturday... I have been assured by the other professor that they will reflect on the two extra classes when assigning homework amounts and try not to over do it... now... Bedtime! Chop, chop!"

And with that said they were dismissed, and began the long trudge to thier common rooms.

* * *

The storm had blown itself out by morning, but it was still gloomy. They were examining thier new timetables, Rin and Amaimon had taken the same subjects as Harry and so they were joining him and Hermione in Care of Magical creatures, Runes and Arithmancy. Nai was sat on the table struggling to drink some water from a small glass.

**_"Hari..."_** it said getting his attention (with its version of his name) and lifting up its arms, Harry picked him up and put him on his shoulder.

**"You spoil that creature" **Senbonzakura commented offhandedly.

'I know...' he thought with a sigh.

_**"Rin!"** _he heard something say, and it definitely wasn't Nai, he looked around trying to spot the black two-tailed Cat Sidhe.

Kuro was running over the top of the Hufflepuff table towards them, startling the students. He leapt across the gap between the tables and onto the table in-front of Rin.

**_"This is place is amazing, Rin!... but I nearly fell through a trick step... its awesome though, and the grounds have all these really cool creatures on" _**

As he spoke he'd climbed up onto his shoulder, smiling broadly widely. _**"...do you have any catnip** **wine?"**_

Harry, Rin and Amaimon laughed.

"Sorry I haven't got any" Rin answered.

"Got what?" Hermione asked curiously, he had just randomly come out and said it but no one else had said anything.

"Catnip Wine" Harry answered, "That's what Kuro's after"

"How could you tell?"

"That's what he's always after" Harry said with a laugh, it was a good thing he didn't leave her questions to Rin, the black haired boy couldn't lie to save his life.

"Look we have Shura at 12 and Angel at 2, on Saturday" Amaimon said apathetically.

"Great! its a class we'll excel in at least... lets just hope Shura dosent beat us black and blue" Rin said.

"Why on earth would she do that?" Hermione asked scandalized.

"You gain experience and develop pain tolerance" Harry and Rin answered immediately.

"we've been told that a lot... personally I think its cause she's a sadist" Rin said. Hermione looked horrified.

They had headed off to thier first class of the day shortly after.

* * *

When they left the greenhouse where the Herbology class was held, Amaimon and Harry were still laughing, Ron and Hermione looked shocked, Rin was scowling, Kuro was chuckling, and the whole class was covered in sooty smears.

Even Senbonzakura was laughing not that any one else other than Harry could hear his rather regal, deep laugh.

"It wasn't that funny!" Rin said exasperated, He felt his tail tip twitch irritably under his shirt.

"It really, really was. HAHAHAHA! AHAHA!" Amaimon managed to say, his laugh was strange to the other students, more high pitched than one would expect from his normal voice and definitely creepy, it was reminiscent of a broken record, he was grinning like a shark and showing of his large fangs. Harry's laugh was more like barking (personally he blamed his animagus form).

"It wasn't funny! He could have been hurt!" Hermione said shrilly.

They just laughed harder. Rin hurt by fire, yeah right.

It had been going really well, their task was to collect Bubotuber pus by Squeezing the aforementioned plants. For Amaimon, Harry and Neville this was very easy they got stuck straight in and collected loads of the pus, but Rin on the other hand... struggled... and then accidentally sent his and Ron's workspace up in blue flames...

Rin had been rather confused, "HOW THE HELL DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!"

Which had made it all the funnier for Amaimon, Harry and Kuro who had laughed as Professor Sprout struggled to put the flames out, Rin finally reigned some control back in and they went out.

Back to the present they were on there way down to Care of Magical Creatures.

Hagrid was waiting for them when they got to his hut, Harry and his father had finally calmed down by this point.

There were several open crates in-front of the hut. Harry decided to re-tie up his hair, annoying green strands had slipped out of his ponytail and kept blowing in his eyes.

"You'll wan' to wait for the Slytherins for this... Blast ended skrewts!"

"Come again?" said Ron, bewildered, for once his expression was mirrored on Hermione's face as well.

Hagrid pointed down into the crates.

"Eurgh!" squealed Lavender Brown, jumping backward.

"Eurgh" just about summed up the Blast-Ended Skrewts in the classes opinion. They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small 'phut', it would be propelled forward several inches.

Amaimon, Rin and Harry exchanged curious glances.

**'What odd creatures...' **Senbonzakura commented.

'Agreed...'

_"onii-san!" _they heard Yukio call, evidently the Slytherins have arrived.

"Yukio, how was your first class?_" _Rin asked, his usual big smile on his face.

"Rin," Yukio said, stomping over to his brother, "What did you do? the whole of your class is covered in soot!"

"_Ma.. Ma... Yukio" _Rin said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Hang on a minute, why did you assume it was something i'd done?!"

"Rin set our workspace on fire in Herbology!" Ron said, as helpfully as usual.

"_RIN! I thought you had some semblance of control!"_

He began ranting and Rin started arguing with him, soon they were in a Japanese shouting match. Whist the class stared at them.

"_Yare... Yare... Mendokuse..._" Amaimon muttered. Harry just watched them in interest.

"You'd never guess that Yukio's the youngest would you" Harry commented offhandedly.

"Shouldn't you stop them?" Hermione asked Amaimon, "Aren't you the eldest?"

"Yeah... but its easier to just watch"

Hermione looked affronted.

"Now, Now you two... no harm done" Hagrid said, interrupting the two twins.

They broke off the argument muttering angrily.

"They've on'y just ha'ched" Hagrid said continuing on with the lesson, "Yer can raise 'em yourselves, thou'ht we could make a bi' of a project out of it"

"Why would you want to raise them?" Malfoy asked, "What do they do?"

"That's next lesson Malfoy, for now yer just feedin' um-"

"Naaaaaai!" the little green man interrupted, he'd got too near the crate and one of the things ends exploded, very nearly setting him alight, Harry yanked him quickly back, and glared at the offending creatures.

Kuro who had also been inspecting the crate shot back and hid behind Rin.

The class passed very slowly and Harry was found to be agreeing with Malfoy, 'Who in Assiah or Gehenna would want to raise these awful creatures?!'

**"Insane people..." **Senbonzakura dead-panned.

Harry had to quickly turn his laugh into a hacking cough when he got some funny looks.

* * *

After his first Arithmancy class Harry was very pleased he'd dropped Divination, it was a very interesting class that along with Runes would help with his sealing ability in the long run as they all ran on the same principles.

Harry alongside of Rin (who'd struggled in the class) Amaimon (who had done it all before and so had found the class boring) and Hermione met up with Ron who was just coming from Divination.

"Horrible old bat... her home work will take all weekend"

"Professor Vector didn't give us any at all" Hermione said brightly.

"Well bully for Professor Vector"

Rin and Amaimon both looked confused by his wording, Harry just rolled his eyes.

They were entering the great hall when a voice rang out behind them. "WEASLEY, HEY WEASLEY!"

Ron, Hermione and the Exorcists turned. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something.

"What?" said Ron shortly.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear. "Listen to this! FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC, It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."

Malfoy looked up. "Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" he laughed.

Harry sighed, exasperated.

Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and read on: "Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene."

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house, if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him.

"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

Harry sighed, grabbing Ron to stop him from attacking the blond, "You know Malfoy you're being a bit pathetic, carrying on this stupid feud between you families is pointless... why don't you stop acting like your father's clone and try to be your own person for once in your life?... Ditching those two stupid gorillas you use as bodyguards would be a good place to start"

Malfoy stared at him his jaw dropped.

"Come on Ron, it isn't worth it..." Harry said tugging the Red head around.

BANG! BANG!

Several people screamed, Harry felt something white-hot graze the side of his face and something flew over his head. He whipped around, Malfoy was still stood staring, but Crabbe and Goyle both had their wands out.

Amaimon growled, but before he could do anything a second set of bangs ran out.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIES!"

Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing right two brown-ish ferrets, which were shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where Crabbe and Goyle had been standing. Malfoy looked like he was fighting the urge to laugh. The Exorcists had no such reservations and began laughing uncontrollably, Rin was rolling around the floor.

There was a terrified silence for everyone else in the entrance hall. Moody turned to look at Harry; at least his normal eye was looking at Harry; the other one was pointing into the back of his head.

"Did he get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly.

"No," said Harry, "the idiots missed."

"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted.

"Leave what?" Harry said, bewildered.

"Not you, her!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Pansy Parkinson, who had just frozen, about to pick up the ferrets.

Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, who gave terrified squeaks and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.

"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferrets again, they flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more.

"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferrets bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do..."

The ferrets flew through the air, thier legs and tail flailing helplessly.

"Never. Do. That. Again" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferrets hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.

"Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice, over the laughing of the Exorcists (who had been joined by Mephisto, Angel, Lightning and Shura).

Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble staircase with her arms full of books.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.

"What-what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air.

"Teaching," said Moody.

"Teach-Moody, are those students?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.

"Yep," said Moody.

"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, the boys had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor sporting brilliantly red faces. They got to their feet, wincing.

"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock-"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then," said Moody, staring at the two with great dislike. The laugher had mainly stopped, but Rin was clutching Yukio for support.

"I have a better idea!" Mephisto interrupted smirking as usual, "They attacked one of ours... its only fair we give the punishment, we won't hurt them of course, it will just be uncomfortable"

The Exorcists exchanged smirks and Harry chuckled darkly, causing Ron and Hermione to look at him sharply.

The two boys tried to run for it, Rin and Yukio cut them off with ease.

"Amaimon if you'll do they honours~" Mephisto said brightly.

The now black haired King of Earth, smiled broadly and snapped his fingers and two fairly large Bariyons appeared.

Everyone stared at the two rocks that appeared to have faces.

* * *

Whist Ron was busy forever burning 'Crabbe and Goyle the amazing bouncing ferrets' into his mind, Harry and the other Exorcists were watching thier punishment with morbid interest, it was always funny when it was someone else. Hermione just looked on disapprovingly.

Crabbe and Goyle's punishment was to sit through the whole of dinner on thier knees on the floor with the Bariyon in their lap, Classic Exorcist punishment. It was amusing watching their faces change from confused (what was a light rock supposed to do?), to envious of everyone else being allowed to eat, to varying stages of despair as the rock got heavier and heavier. Malfoy whacked his forehead to the table in frustration, 'how could anybody be stupid enough to attack a group of Exorcists?! its not like they hid the fact... they were all wearing thier badges in plain sight, the stupid fools weren't even insulted that bad... all Potter did was call them Gorillas... they were utter idiots'

Shura kept baiting the two of them by loudly saying how nice all the food was, McGonagall looked disapproving but Mephisto talked her round with his usual charm and no one else made complaints, not even Snape. Dumbledore tried to say that corporal punishments weren't used at Hogwarts, But when the exorcists all laughed and said that Bariyons weren't technically classed as corporal punishment and it was legally authorized by the Vatican, the old man shut up.

* * *

The next two days passed without incident. Rin set more things on fire and Yukio yelled at him again (repeatedly) but this was becoming normal and hardly anyone batted an eyelid any more, except when he blew up his and Yukio's potions cauldron quite spectacularly, Yukio with severely damaged glasses had chased him all the way round the school before Amaimon had banged thier heads together (accidently knocking them out in the process, to which he childishly said "Oops").

Nearly all of the fourth years were very excited for Moody's first lesson, and many skipped lunch to line up outside his classroom early, Ron among them.

Harry and the Exorcists showed up only five minutes before lesson started, and Hermione ran up with seconds to spare before the bell rang; stating she'd been in the library.

The class had begun like many others had, Moody had found out what they'd already covered and decided on what they were behind on, Curses.

"What are the curses most punishable by wizarding Law?" He asked them.

"The Unforgivable's" Amaimon answered darkly.

"Yes... can anyone name any of them?" Moody continued.

Amaimon just kept his gaze down, he could see where this was going and he didn't like it one bit... he was glad both Rin and Harry had left Kuro and Nai in the common room, he didn't think they'd react well to this class, they were both very sensitive...

"My dad told me about one... the Imperious Curse..." Ron said.

"He would know about that one wouldn't he? Gave the ministry a lot of trouble back after the war"

He proceeded to demonstrate the curse, nearly everyone laughed at the spider doing acrobatics. Only the Exorcists remained silent and eventually Harry yelled at the rest of the class to "shut the hell up", they didn't find it amusing for a second.

"Think its funny do you? would you like it if I did it to you then..." Moody said, "Total control, not pleasant... Hard to break, best avoid being hit with it... CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Everyone jumped, and almost on reflex the exorcists all grabbed thier nearest weapons (Harry came very close to hurling a Kunai at the Man before calming down) Moody seemed pleased with their reaction.

"Anybody know anymore?"

Surprisingly Neville raised a shaky had into the air, "The Cruciatus Curse"

He made the spider bigger with "engorgio" and then cast the Cruciatus on the other spider.

It rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Harry was sure that if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently.

"Stop it!" Hermione said shrilly.

Neville had grabbed the side of his table with white knuckles and was starring at the spider horror-struck.

"Reducio" Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar. "Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse... That one was very popular once too. Right... anyone know any others?"

Harry looked around. From the looks on everyone's faces, he guessed they were all wondering what was going to happen to the last spider. Amaimon was glaring at the desk in front of him, his black fringe hiding his eyes from everyone else but Harry good see his pupils were glowing crimson. He knew the only reason his father was still in the room was because of him, he was staying for him...

Hermione's hand shook slightly as, she raised it into the air.

"Yes?" said Moody, looking at her.

"Avada Kedavra," Hermione whispered. Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron.

"Ah," said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra... the Killing Curse."

He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, but he trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface.

Moody raised his wand, and Harry felt anger and panic clutch at his insides, this was the curse he had barely managed to block at the cup.

"Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared.

There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though something was soaring through the air, instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him. Amaimon and the other Exorcist growled under there breath.

Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor.

"Not nice," he said calmly. "Not pleasant, and there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it with spells. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."

Harry forced his face blank as he looked up at Moody, shocking the old man at the apathy on the green aired boy's face. So that was how his parents had died... He'd heard the full version of what had happened that night from his Father, and remembered his mothers death due to the dementors... but it had never been as vivid as it was now.

Moody was speaking again, from a great distance, it seemed to Harry. With a massive effort, he pulled himself back to the present and listened to what Moody was saying.

"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it. you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it. Now, if there's no countercurse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the whole class jumped again.

Amaimon was positive if he tried that curse on the odd eyed man he'd be as dead as the spider.

"Get out your quills... copy this down..."

They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang, but when Moody had dismissed them and they had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst forth. Amaimon and Rin were first out of the door, Harry knew he'd find them near the lake. Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices, Ron among them. They were talking about the lesson, Harry thought, as though it had been some sort of spectacular show, but he hadn't found it very entertaining, and neither had Hermione and the other Exorcists.

"Did you see it twitch? and when he killed it, just like that! Just snuffed its life out!"

Harry swung around and punched Ron in the jaw, hard. "Have some tact you idiot for the ones who've lost people to those curses!" he snarled, the castle shook lightly.

He stormed off leaving Ron (who was gob-smacked on the floor) and the other stunned Griffindors behind.

Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse.

"Neville?" Harry said forcing calm into his voice.

Neville looked around. "Oh hello," he said, his voice much higher than usual. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm-I'm starving, aren't you?"

"Neville, are you all right?" He asked.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," Neville gabbled in the same unnaturally high voice. "Very interesting dinner- I mean lesson- what's for eating?"

"Come on Neville, why don't we go down to the lake?" Harry asked.

Neville nodded mutely and Harry dragged him off by the wrist before he could change his mind, especially because Moody was heading thier way and Harry was fearing his calm façade would soon fail, and he do something stupid like pull out a gun and shoot the man in the head.

On the way outside, in a deserted passageway was some Ravenclaw girls (one of them Cho)... they were crowding round and picking on a girl with white-ish blond Hair, they'd tipped all her books over the floor and stolen her bag, laughing all the time, and then shoved her over.

He could hear them calling her lots of names, but one stood out... Freak.

Harry really was not in the mood for this, 'What did she ever do to them?! just because she was different they'd treat her like that?!' he felt his vision growing red.

**"Stupid, selfish, pathetic excuses of human beings..." **Senbonzakura ground out through clenched teeth.

Neville was sufficiently snapped out of his reverie, and stared open jawed at the fact people could be so horrible to someone in their own house.

Harry had finally had enough, he shifted into his animagus form and ran over, he leapt protectively in-front of the blond girl and growled at the other Ravenclaws baring his teeth and barking slightly. His hackles were raised and the fur on his neck rose, his yellow eyes seemed to glow with power and he lunged slightly at them.

They were broken from their shock at seeing a pale coloured large wolf protecting 'Loony' and they screamed loudly, dropping her things and running as fast as their legs could carry them down the corridor and around the corner.

Harry turned back to the girl, she looked to be a third year (or a tall second year) surprisingly she wasn't crying or backing away terrified from the large Grey Wolf, she was just looking. She had waist length dirty blond hair, pale (practically non-existent) eyebrows and large pale silver grey eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look, she didn't seem to blink very much either. She reached forward and stroked his fur, before picking up her wand and putting it back behind her ear.

"I didn't know you were an animagus Harry Potter" she commented off handedly, her voice had an light airy quality, she seemed to have a very serene disposition.

Harry changed back and helped her pick up her things, Neville hurried over to assist.

"I learnt to be an animagus over the summer" Harry told her as he handed her her books back. "What's your name? and how'd you know it was me anyway?"

"Luna Lovegood, and I saw you stood over there, your long green hair stands out a great deal, it does suit you though."

"thanks... Luna don't you think you should tell some one you're being bullied"

"All of my things are returned in the end" she commented seriously. "I used to think it was Nargles taking my things, evidently they were framed"

"Whats a Nargle?" Neville asked.

"invisible creatures that fly in your ears and make your brain fuzzy, you look like you've got a bad infestation yourselves"

"we just had a bad lesson with Moody... if your not going to tell the teachers your being bullied will you at least come tell me if it happens again, you could have been hurt you know"

"Very well then Harry Potter... and I don't know your name" she said.

"Neville Longbottom" he muttered embarrassed.

"Me and Neville were heading down to the lake, do you want to join us?"

"I think I shall" she replied smiling slightly.

* * *

When they got down to the lake shore, Amaimon, Rin and Yukio were sat on the grassy slope nearby. Amaimon was chewing on his long black nails, glaring at nothing, and Rin was filling Yukio in on Moody's lesson.

Harry sat down on the grass, Neville and Luna sitting next to him.

"Guys this is Luna Lovegood, Luna this is Rin, Amaimon and Yukio"

"_Konichiwa"_ she said. "I have to apologize though, I don't know any more Japanese than that"

"Its fine, all of our English is fluent, we don't mind speaking it"

"What happened in Professor Moody's lesson to make the Nargles crowd you so?" Luna asked curiously.

"He demonstrated the three Unforgivables" Amaimon said.

Neville looked everywhere but the others.

"Neville..." Harry began, "Why'd you react so bad to the Cruciatus? you can tell us you know, you already know my story after-all, and none of the others will tell anyone"

Neville kept quiet.

Amaimon glanced at him and sighed, he didn't like the fact two of his close friends son was so timid and afraid, "We've all lost something, and Luna doesn't seem the type to blab about stuff like this... one of the people I cared about most in the world was killed by Avada Kedavra" he added quietly.

"We've never seen the spells before" Rin said gesturing to himself and Yukio, "but our adoptive father was possessed by Satan, he fought back against the possession and killed himself to protect us and keep Satan in Gehenna... most people think Satan's a myth, but I can tell you for a fact that the God of Demons is very real"

"My mother was killed when she was experimenting on some spells" Luna put in.

"Like I said, you already know my story..." Harry murmured.

Neville looked hesitant but spoke in shaky voice, "My parents had the Cruciatus put on them by Bellatrix Lestrange"

Amaimon looked very shocked, he'd never have imagined Frank and Alice Longbottom would have that happen to them, the others looked at him in pity.

"They were tortured into insanity... that's why I live with my Grandmother... My mum and Dad are in the permanent residences ward of St Mungo's... the Wizards Hospital"

They were all stunned to silence, Luna also lost her Airy quality serious for once.

They heard a twig crack behind them.

They all whipped round, it was Malfoy. They all got to their feet (baring Luna who just watched), they were worried about much he'd heard.

"Woah, Woah..." Malfoy said frantically, holding his hands up in surrender, smart move considering he was confronted by five very angry glares.

"What did you hear?" Amaimon growled out.

"Um... All of it... but I won't tell anyone! I swear!" he said very quickly.

"We'll need some sort of insurance so we know your silence is Guaranteed" Yukio said. "What were you doing out here anyway?"

Malfoy looked conflicted, "if you must know I was thinking about what Potter said on the first day back"

"Which part? Harry Potter said a lot of things that lunch time..." Luna commented offhandedly.

"About not acting like my father and being my own person..." Malfoy muttered embarrassed.

Rin and Yukio practically frogmarched the blonde over to the group and made him sit down.

"Well considering you were eavesdropping-" "Not deliberately, I was just walking past" "-you need to tell us something you don't want other people to know, so we can be sure you won't tell anyone what we all said, because of course then we'd spread it round the school what you don't want people to know"

Malfoy just glared at them.

"Why don't you tell us the whole story of why you want to be an Exorcist? that's relevant anyway because we can pass the information onto Mephisto" Harry suggested.

"Fine" Malfoy snapped, glaring at him. "But I already told you it was because an Exorcist saved my life once"

"Yeah, but I want the long version, not the short one" Harry argued.

"Alright then... baring in mind I was three and didn't have a clue what was going on until later on in life... I'd got lost from my mother in Diagon Alley, I don't know how because I don't remember... I was wandering around for a while and ended up in-front of this dark alley between two of the shops. I noticed these dark shadows moving around, but again I was a toddler so I just stayed sat there, and didn't move. These... things started coming out of the alley, when I was little I didn't know what they were and had never seen anything like them before but they were very frightening; now I know they were Corpses, I don't know what they were doing there... they looked like dogs, had bloody drool dripping from thier jaws, and were covered in all kinds of Fungus, some of them were missing limbs and they were all in varying stages of decay... Being a toddler confronted with several monsters I did the only thing I could do and screamed and cried... One thing though that I remember more than anything else, was that everyone just looked at me then the corpses and turned away and pretended they couldn't see it was happening... I didn't understand... I didn't understand why they wouldn't help me... the Corpses got closer, I was still screaming... people just walked past, speeding up and looking away. Then the Exorcist showed up, I never saw his or her face, they used a firearm to destroy the demons (not that I knew what that was at the time either, I just knew it made the monsters go away and it was very loud) the Exorcist picked me up, that was when I first saw the badge... it was the thing I remembered most clearly out of it all, the Exorcist's badge... The whole incident gave me nightmares for the better part of two years... when I was a few years older though, I started researching the incident, that was when I found out about the True Cross Order, and Gehenna and thier Demons..." Malfoy said. "I've wanted to join ever since then... I don't want to be one of those people who walk past and do absolutely nothing!" he finished with a snarl.

The others nodded at his reasoning, and then they all sat in silence just watching the sun dip further in the sky. They all felt better getting all of that off thier chests and had all come to a sort of understanding... a kind of companionship, after sharing thier hardships with each other. 'kind of like when me, Ron and Hermione fought the troll..' harry mused.

"Hey Amaimon, there were these big black winged horses pulling the carriages... what are they? not everyone was able to see them..."

"They're Thestrals" Luna answered.

"You can only see them if you've seen and accepted a death" Amaimon said. He looked sadly at his son, he could probably see them now because he had to kill some of the death eaters and accepted the fact he'd done it... it might have been necessary but he would have preferred if his son wouldn't have had to take a life at just 14.

After that morbid piece of news they fell back into silence and watched as the sun began to slip beneath the horizon.

* * *

**And that's this chapter over!**

**this was a really long one as well , there just didn't seem to be a good cut off point...**

**well, what did you think? XD**

**Thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Hello once again!**

**I am really sorry i haven't updated in ages, i had a major writers block and tons of college work...**

**considering its been a while since my last chapter I'll summarise what has happened... well harry punched Ron for being insensitive about the unforgivable curses and he met Luna shortly after saving her from bullies and then harry, Neville, Luna, Rin, Yukio, Amaimon and Draco all shared their unfortunate circumstances and were sat outside by the lake watching the sunset... well I think that covered everything... **

**Hope you enjoy reading this chapter!**

**XD **

* * *

"English"

"emphasis" **  
**

'thoughts'

_"Japanese"_

**"Demon sword telepathy"**

**_"Demon telepathy"_**

* * *

Chapter 13

Luna was the first to leave stating she had to get back to the common room, but before she left she said "I enjoyed this evening, it was almost like having friends"

All of the others shared awkward glances as she walked off.

**"Well she sure is unusual... in a good way though" **Senbonzakura commented.

'yeah...' Harry replied distractedly, watching her walk back into the castle.

"Well I best be off too before the other Slytherins start to ask awkward questions..." Draco muttered getting up.

"I'll join you" Yukio said, "See you tomorrow _minna-san" _

_"_see you" they all replied.

Amaimon, Rin, Harry and Neville sat in companionable silence until it was dark and the stars began to shine in the sky.

"Well we better head up..." Rin said standing up.

"Yeah" the others muttered.

* * *

The walk back seemed to take even longer than it usually did, as it was almost past curfew and they had to dodge various teachers on the way back to the common room but luckily with a former marauder on thier side it was simple to use the secret passages to avoid them even if it took longer than usual.

When they climbed through the portrait hole the common room went silent, evidently the whole house had heard about harry's outburst, the exorcist trio ignored them all and went to sit by one of the windows in the corner whilst Neville went straight up to the dorm room, Hermione and Ron were sat nearby. Ron had a blossoming purple, blue and black bruise across his jaw, Amaimon noted, it looked pretty painful but Amaimon and Rin both knew that if Harry had really tried to hurt him his jaw would be broken and teeth would be missing.

Ron looked up briefly as they walked past (as did hermione) but he quickly looked back down at his homework.

Harry sighed exasperatedly as he got up and walked over to thier table, he studiously ignored the fact that the entire common room was watching with bated breath to see what he'd do.

"Ron" Harry said getting his attention, "I'm sorry about hitting you, okay?... but that lesson brought up a lot of bad stuff and you and all the others were treating those horrible curses like some sort of spectacular show! and it annoyed me... so yeah... I'm sorry"

"Its fine I should have thought about what it would have been like for you and i'm... sorry too" Ron replied.

Harry nodded in acknowledgement and went to do this homework with Rin and Amaimon.

* * *

The next couple of weeks passed by very quickly, the only abnormalities in the schooling was when moody had tested them on the imperious curse, needless to say the sons of Satan and the son of the Earth King could throw off the curse easily (despite Senbonzakura's insistence to slice moody into pieces for even trying it) and other than that the only unusual thing was Sirius writing to tell Harry that he was back in the country and that he would be nearby, apparently the incident at the quidditch world cup had worried him and the fact the his god son was now an exorcist did nothing to alleviate his worries at all... if anything it increased them.

They'd also had there first two lessons with Shura and Angel, the Exorcists had mainly been left to thier own devices with Mephisto to supervise and advise them they had basically used it to train Harry whilst the rest of the students worked with Shura, Angel and Lighting. That was when they found out that Kenjutsu and hand to hand combat class was only mandatory for their first year and then they could choose to drop it (the students were very glad for this)... PE was mandatory forever though, that had all of the Hogwarts students moaning and staggering around the school nursing aching muscles, which the Exorcists all found Hilarious.

It was soon that a sign went up in the common room:

_TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT_

_The delegations of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October, lessons will end half an hour early._

The week leading up to thier arrival was hectic, filch was seen cleaning up every inch of the castle until it was spotless and the staff were all more tense than usual, the conversation on everyone's lips was speculation and gossip about the tournament, the Exorcists all had taken to spending their time around the lake or by the edge of the forbidden forest, surprisingly they were often joined by Draco (who had managed to tone down his ego and make friends with Yukio) they were also often joined by Neville and Luna (who Harry had successfully made friends with, both of them were easy to get along with and Luna's blunt airy attitude was refreshing) Ron and Hermione were pretty hyped up about the tournament, like the rest of the school, and were therefore a bit annoying to hang around with at the moment.

The only new thing was Harry getting increasingly frustrated about Hermione's attitude on house elves... sure Harry (and Senbonzakura) thought they should be treated better but freed was another thing altogether.

There was a feeling of anticipation in the air that day, and the Exorcists all seemed more on edge, Rin and Harry had taken to wearing their swords everywhere after all if Godric Griffindor created a rule where you were allowed to carry them who could argue. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early Harry, Ron, Amaimon, Rin, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall (or in the case of Harry and the Exorcists they walked at a sedated uncaring pace).

The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines "Weasley, straighten your hat" Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."

Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait. Harry tied up his long hair in a neat high ponytail before she could moan at him for it.

"Follow me, please" said Professor McGonagall after glaring at the swords sheathed on Rin and Harry's back and wishing she could tell them off about it. "First years in front, no pushing..."

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Harry was once more glad for how much he'd grown over the summer as he could easily see over the heads of everyone in front of him, Nai and Kuro had braved the cold and were currently sat on their owners shoulders.

"Nearly six" said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"

"I doubt it" said Hermione.

"How then? Broomsticks?" Ron suggested, looking up at the starry sky.

"I don't think so, not from that distance"

"A Portkey?" Rin suggested. "Or they could Apparate, maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"

"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds" said Hermione impatiently.

"I doubt it would be a Portkey... Wizard's can't seem to help showing off when they congregate in big groups, it will probably be something grandiose and dramatic, designed to make us envious" Amaimon said apathetically as usual.

"It will have to be something really impressive then..." Harry muttered.

They scanned the darkening grounds, but nothing was moving; everything was still and quiet as usual. Harry and Amaimon were just starting to get very bored when they spotted something approaching in the gloom (probably only the demons and Half bloods had noticed it yet, having night vision really helped).

And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest. Harry yawned boredly, McGonagall shot him a irritated look.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely. **"well that's just stupid..."**

"Don't be stupid it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey. **"Its rather sad that he's actually quite accurate..."**

Harry tried hard not to laugh at Senbonzakura's comments.

Dennis's guess was closer actually as the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

"Abraxan Horses" Amaimon muttered.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed, then with an almighty crash the horse's hooves, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.

"Abraxan horses were once thought to be demons however they are just odd large horses" Amaimon stated, seeing Rin's and Harry's curious gazes drawn to the horses eyes.

Harry just had time to see that the door of the carriage bore a coat of arms (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) before it opened.

A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then they saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage followed by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life. The size of the carriage (and of the horses) was immediately explained. A few people gasped (rather rudely in Senbonzakura's opinion).

Harry had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in his life, and that was Hagrid; he doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights. Yet somehow she seemed even more unnaturally large.

Her hair was drawn back in a shining bun at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.

Dumbledore started to clap, the students; following his lead, broke into applause too.

Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore (though tall himself) had barely to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr" said Madame Maxime in a deep heavily accented voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.

Harry, whose attention had been focused completely upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. From what Harry could see of them they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces, he would too in their position it looked freezing and old fashioned from outside.

" 'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment" said Dumbledore "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm up, I think" said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses-"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them" said Dumbledore "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other... er... charges."

"Skrewts," Ron muttered to Harry, grinning, Harry didn't see that as anything to grin about.

"My steeds require forceful 'andling" said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job "Zey are very strong..."

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job" said Dumbledore, smiling.

"Very well" said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

"It will be attended to" said Dumbledore, also bowing.

"Why don't some of ours get the horse and carriage out of the way?" Mephisto asked, "After all we don't know how Durmstrang intend to arrive"

Maxime took in the badge on his chest and said "Are you sure they could 'andle such large 'orses?"

"Of course" Mephisto said grinning widely, Amaimon and Harry got an apprehensive feeling "Amaimon, Harry would you please move the horses towards Hagrids hut?"

Both of the aforementioned Earth elementals groaned but broke rank and ran towards the horses. Harry gaining stares from the Beauxbatons students as they noticed the massive Katana strapped to his back.

"You can not be serious..." Maxime exclaimed "such young students will never be able to move zose 'orses!"

"I agree, I really must protest Mr Pheles" McGonagall said disapprovingly.

"Just watch..." Mephisto said still grinning, the whole school stared.

After locating the reins Harry threw them to Amaimon before joining him in front of the 12 horses, "Damn Mephisto... he just wants to show off" he muttered.

The horses shied nervously, sensing the demon blood in thier veins. They both grabbed the reins and yanked on them, the horses immediately started forward.

"At least they're not resisting..." Amaimon muttered.

The took off running towards Hagrids hut dragging the horses and the carriage behind them, the horses trotting at a steady pace. Ignoring the fact the entire school was watching with gob-smacked faces.

"Come," said Madame Maxime to her students after it had been proved her horses were in capable hands and trying not to look too impressed, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.

Amaimon and Harry returned a short while later and ignored the other students questions.

They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.

Rin, Yukio, Amaimon and Harry heard it before any one else did, an odd gurgling sound.

"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the black surface of the water. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the centre; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks and then out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor.

What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool... and then they saw the rigging...

"It's a mast" he said "So, arriving by ship... not bad, not as impressive as the red eyed horses though"

Slowly the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

**"So Dramatic" **Senbonzakura muttered disdainfully.

**_"why was it under water?" _**Kuro asked curiously

"Dunno" Rin muttered.

People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them, Harry noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle... but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, he saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope "How are you? my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff" Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts" he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Harry noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd, the Exorcists all resolved to keep an eye on him. "How good it is to be here, Viktor come along, into the warmth... you don't mind do you Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..."

Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Harry caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile.

"Harry... it's Krum!"

"I can tell Ron" he muttered irritably, punching the red head back.

* * *

Rin, Amaimon and Harry all sighed as they heard everyone exclaiming over Viktor Krum, even Ron said he'd get his autograph if he got the chance, the two older exorcists stared at him disdainfully and Harry just sighed and dragged him into the great hall.

"He's just a quidditch player Ron" Harry said, "As much as I like Quidditch it isn't that impressive..."

Ron looked scandalous, where as Hermione said "someone sensible at last".

Beauxbatons choose to sit at the Ravenclaw table, where as the students from Durmstrang choose to sit at the Slytherin table; Ron sulked more than a bit over that.

"They look a lot happier than the Beauxbatons lot," said Rin offhandedly. The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest and a couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed.

Up at the staff table Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. Harry was surprised to see that he added four chairs, two on either side of Dumbledore's.

"But there are only two extra people" Harry said "Why's Filch putting out four chairs, who else is coming?"

"Eh?" said Ron vaguely. He was still staring avidly at Krum. Harry sighed again.

When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime and the Exorcists. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side.

Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and (most particularly) guests" said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.

"No one's making you stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling at her.

"Don't be so defensive... ignore the French girls, they're just used to much warmer temperatures" Amaimon whispered to her.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast" said Dumbledore "I now invite you all to eat, drink and make yourselves at home!" He sat down and Harry saw Karkaroff lean forward at once and engage him in conversation.

The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Harry had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign and not Japanese.

"What's that?" said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.

"Bouillabaisse" said Hermione and Amaimon.

"Bless you" said Ron.

"It's French," said Hermione "I had it on holiday the summer before last. It's very nice."

"I'll take your word for it" said Ron, helping himself to black pudding.

Harry looked at the black pudding in disgust and moved away slightly when Ron put it on his plate. **"Thats vulgar..." **Senbonzakura said, Nai and Kuro looked at the pudding with unrestrained disgust.

The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently coloured uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep blood red.

At that moment, a voice said "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"

It was the girl from Beauxbatons who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech. She had finally removed her muffler. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes and very white, even teeth.

Ron went purple. He stared up at her, opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint gurgling noise.

"Yes, you can have it" said Harry, pushing the dish toward the girl.

"You 'ave finished wiz it?"

"you'll find at Hogwarts most people don't like trying new things" Harry said, pulling a plate of sushi towards him, before Ron could manage to form a coherent sentence to answer the blonde girl.

The girl contemplated his answer before she picked up the French dish and carried it carefully off to the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still ogling at the girl as though he had never seen one before. Harry whacked him upside the head, pulling Ron back to his senses.

"She's a Veela!" he said hoarsely to Harry.

"Of course she isn't!" said Hermione tartly. "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!"

But she wasn't entirely right about that. As the girl crossed the Hall, many boys' heads turned, and some of them seemed to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron.

"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"

"The girls at Hogwarts are fine just the way they are," said Harry. Luna happened to be sitting only a few places away from the girl with the silvery hair, she caught sight of him looking over and smiled at him, he smiled back.

"When you've both put your eyes back in" said Hermione briskly "you'll be able to see who's just arrived."

She was pointing up at the staff table. The two remaining empty seats had just been filled; Ludo Bagman was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff's other side, while Mr Crouch was next to Madame Maxime.

"What are they doing here?" said Ron in surprise.

"They organized the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they?" said Harry "I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start."

When the second course arrived they noticed a number of unfamiliar desserts too. Ron examined an odd sort of pale blancmange closely, then moved it carefully a few inches to his right, so that it would be clearly visible from the Ravenclaw table. The girl who looked like a Veela appeared to have eaten enough, however, and did not come over to get it.

Harry merely sighed as he, the other exorcists and Hermione helped themselves to Dango.

When Dumbledore stood back up and as he explained the purpose of the Goblet of fire (and the presence of the ministry workers) the Exorcists struggled to pay attention they were rather tired and couldn't be bothered with the tournament whatsoever.

They visibly sat up straighter when the goblet was brought out of its casket, it was full to the brim with dancing blue white flames. Kuro and Nai shied slightly away from the goblet.

_"That's not... ya know is it?"_ Harry asked nervously.

_"It sure looks like Satan's flames..."_ Rin muttered, "and I should know..."

_"I don't think it is... if it was Angel and Mephisto wouldn't look so calm... and they're a lot closer to it than we are"_ Amaimon whispered back to them. _"How could it be anyway?"_

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet" said Dumbledore "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night (Halloween) the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no under-age student yields to temptation I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

"An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as they all made their way across the Hall to the doors into the entrance hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Ageing Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing, it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said Hermione, "we just haven't learned enough..."

"Speak for yourself," said George shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry?"

"No, I don't see the point... I'm already more famous and recognisable than i'd like, I don't want even more attention, I don't need the money because I have more than that in just my trust vault and that's not even considering the actual Potters vault which is supposed to be 10 times bigger... and quite frankly I think the school could be better represented by some one else" Harry said yawning.

"What about you two? you're old enough" Ron asked Rin and Amaimon.

_"Damn right we're old enough..." _Rin muttered under his breath (thankfully in Japanese).

"No... we haven't been here long enough, it wouldn't be fair for us to represent the school" Amaimon said wisely "And an ageing potion won't work on an age line, an age line measures not your physical age but the age of your soul... Angel told me a while ago when I asked about how they'd stop people signing thier names up for the tournament."

"Its worth trying anyway!" Fred argued.

"on your head be it then" Harry said tiredly.

* * *

Karkaroff led his students toward the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as Harry, Amaimon, Rin, Ron, and Hermione. Harry stopped to let him walk through first.

"Thank you," said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at him and then Karkaroff froze. He turned his head back to Harry and stared at him as though he couldn't believe his eyes.

Behind their headmaster, the students from Durmstrang came to a halt too. Karkaroff's eyes moved slowly up Harry's face and fixed upon his scar. The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at Harry too. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw comprehension dawn on a few of their faces. One boy pointed openly at Harry's forehead.

Harry scowled.

"Yes he's Harry Potter, yes its impressive" Amaimon said sarcastically, "But do you really need to hold up the crowd to stare at a 14 year old boy's forehead?"

Karkaroff glared at Earth King darkly, Amaimon stared back impassive, he'd seen scarier glares off irritated kittens.

"Are you going to carry on walking or not?" Rin said agitatedly.

Karkaroff sent one more glare thier way before he walked briskly on, his students trailing behind him quickly forgetting to stare at Harry in light of the Sons of Satan's glares.

When they eventually made it to the dormitory Harry collapsed into bed and threw a pillow at the other students heads when they wanted to stay up talking about the cup.

"May I remind you that you still have hand to hand combat lessons and PE tomorrow" Amaimon said pointedly, despite lying face down on his bed.

The others groans were enough to say they'd forgotten about that.

* * *

The actual day was uneventful, Harry and the Exorcists headed straight out when they woke up (ignoring the bustle of the castle surrounding the goblet) and they went to train, by the time the other students made it down to the quidditch pitch for thier lessons the Exorcists were already in the middle of a three way spar between Shura, Rin and Harry. Harry and Rin predictably lost but it was a close match. Luna went over to congratulate them on almost beating thier teacher.

When the Exorcists finally dragged themselves inside, they all looked very worn out and dishevelled (even Angel and Shura) Mephisto looked just like he normally did; 'Damn him' the others thought. It was almost time for the Halloween feast they noticed.

* * *

The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, Harry didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as he would have normally and stuck to some Ramen. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Harry simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions, unlike most people in the hall though he just wanted to find out who was selected so then he could go up to bed, training had exhausted him.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students; **"What an idiot..." **senbonzakura commented. Mr Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored (Same as the Exorcists, no one they gave a damn about was in the running).

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision" said Dumbledore "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champion's names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" he indicated the door behind the staff table "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames was painful on thier eyes, Particularly that of Rin, Yukio, Amaimon and Harry who could see perfectly well in the dark as it was.

Most were waiting on baited breath, Harry just wanted them to hurry the hell up.

The flames suddenly turned red and a plume of flame shot out, a charred piece of parchment floated from it. Dumbledore caught the parchment and looked at it.

"The champion from Durmstrang is... Viktor Krum!"

**"What a surprise..." **Senbonzakura said dryly as the hall burst into applause, and Krum walked into the ante-chamber.

When the chatting and clapping died down the goblet turned red again, and another parchment shot out.

"The champion for Beauxbatons will be... Fleur Delacour"

As she too walked out, the hall clapped again whilst some from Beaubatons dissolved into tears.

"They look disappointed" Hermione commented.

"Just a tad" Harry replied dryly.

Shortly after another plume of red flame erupted from the goblet.

"And the Hogwarts champion is... Cedric Diggory"

The Hufflepuff Table exploded into applause, louder than any other cheering as Cedric walked out smiling broadly.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again; sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. Then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out: "Harry Potter."

Harry stared at him blankly open mouthed, even as Rin, Amaimon, Yukio and Shura leapt to thier feet shouting at the headmaster.

"there's no way he put his name in-"

"This is ridiculous-"

"He can't compete-"

"You can't expect him to take part-"

"He's fourteen-"

"He wouldn't put his name in-"

"QUIET!" Angel shouted. The exorcists all shut up but stayed stood up.

"Thank you" Dumbledore said, "Harry Potter! Harry up here if you please"

Harry was stunned numb even with all eyes in him and an angry buzzing filling the hall.

"Go on" Hermione urged shoving him out of his seat.

He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and he could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon him, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.

"Well... through the door, Harry" said Dumbledore.

Harry moved off along the teacher's table. Angel and Mephisto both gave him reassuring looks which made him feel better actually, and Shura and Lightning both nodded at him supportively.

Harry went through the door out of the Great Hall and found himself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him. He let out a shaky breath.

The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he entered. He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus moustache. The witch started whispering in his ear, he glared at them as he passed.

Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Harry walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she said "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

She thought he had come to deliver a message. Harry didn't know how to explain what had just happened. He just stood there, looking at the three champions feeling very nervous and shaky. The fact that he could feel the magically binding contract wrapped tightly around his core was making him even more nervous, it was a very unsettling feeling, like he was trapped.

He heard scurrying footsteps behind him and felt someone grab his arm, attempting to drag him forward, he swiftly ripped his arm from the offenders grasp.

It was Ludo Bagman, who recovered quickly and addressed the other champions.

* * *

Harry saw the following events after Bagman entered as if he was underwater, the sound seemed muffled and his vision unfocused.

**"You just have to trust in your uncle and the Paladin, if they can't sort this mess out no one can" **Senbonzakura said calmly. **"Besides even if we do have to compete you won't be on your own, you'll have the support of your family and even if they can't be in the arena with you I will always have your back master"**

_'Senbonzakura...' _Harry muttered stunned.

**"You might want to jump back into the conversation, Your uncle has just entered the room"**

_'Thanks' _he said, and they both knew it was more than just thanks for telling him about Mephisto.

"Harry!... Harry!" some one was waving thier hand in front of his face.

"Huh?" He said intelligently, shaking his head to clear it.

It was Dumbledore.

"Did you put your name in the goblet?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry glanced briefly around everyone was staring at him, McGonagall and his Uncle were looking at him worried, evidently he had been more spaced out than he thought.

"No... No I didn't" shaking his head as he said it, "I didn't even want to be in this stupid tournament"

"Did you ask an older student to put it in for you?" Dumbledore asked urgently.

"No..." he said.

"Ah... but of course 'e is lying" Madame Maxime said derisively.

Mephisto visibly bristled and walked over to put his hand on Harry's shoulder, he gave it a reassuring pat, glaring darkly at Maxime.

"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake with ze line" Maxime said.

"It is possible of course" Dumbledore said calmly.

"Don't be ridiculous" McGonagall said, "you know you didn't make a mistake, we can all agree that Harry could not have crossed the line and if Dumbledore believes he did not ask another student to do it for him then that should be good enough for the rest of you"

Harry turned to Mephisto _"I won't have to compete will I? they said it themselves I'm not old enough... I don't know enough!"_

The others all stared at them, especially at the Japanese.

_"...can you tell if there is a magical contract or not?" _Mephisto asked eventually.

_"Yeah I can feel it..." _Harry muttered nervously.

Mephisto sighed, _"I won't lie you probably will have to then... if you hadn't then you wouldn't have had to... but if there is a contract there is little we can do about it"_

_"But-But..." _

_"Sorry Harry... but don't worry we've all got your back and if it gets bad we will interfere no matter what, so either way you have nothing to worry about"_

"Speak English will you?" Karkaroff snapped.

"We'll speak whatever language we wish Karkaroff regardless of whether you understand or not" Mephisto said condescendingly, "Generally when people speak another language its a private conversation anyway or is that too hard for you to comprehend"

_"Like I said Harry, you've got nothing to worry about, and regardless of what the school thinks you have friends and family who will stand by you all the way" _Mephisto continued as if Karkaroff hadn't spoken_._

"Mr crouch, Mr Bagman you are our... er... objective judges you must agree this is most irregular?" Karkaroff continued.

"Once a name comes out of the goblet that person has to compete... those are the rules" Crouch said.

Harry felt his last hopes sink.

"But I don't want to compete!" Harry said, slightly higher pitched than his usual voice. Mephisto gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, giving his support silently.

McGonagall gave him a comforting look.

They kept arguing for a while longer until Moody walked in and and said someone was probably hoping Harry would die in the tournament.

**"Wow and you're stood right here and he comes out with that... Tact is not his strong suit."**

Harry recognised his swords attempt to cheer him up, after all Senbonzakura usually spoke more regally than that, it didn't really work but he was grateful for it all the same.

"How this situation arose, we do not know" said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it, both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do..."

"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr..."

"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it"

Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either; Snape looked furious, Karkaroff livid... Bagman however, looked rather excited "Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty do you want to do the honours?"

Mr Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie.

"Yes" he said "instructions. Yes... the first task..." He moved forward into the firelight. Close up, Harry thought he looked ill. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes and a thin, papery look about his wrinkled skin that had not been there at the Quidditch World Cup.

"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Harry, Cedric, Fleur and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard... very important."

**"Good way to get people killed as well" **His partner commented dryly.

"The first task will take place on November the twenty fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges. The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

_"Well that's one good thing..." _Mephisto muttered.

_"Will I still be able to have my sword in the seal... that would count as not having it on me wouldn't it?" _Harry whispered.

_"I'll find out before crouch leaves" _Mephisto replied quietly.

Mr Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore. "I think that's all, isn't it, Albus?"

"I think so," said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr Crouch with mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?"

"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry" said Mr Crouch "It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment... I've left young Weatherby in charge... Very enthusiastic... a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told..."

"You'll come and have a drink before you go, at least?" said Dumbledore.

"Come on, Barty, I'm staying!" said Bagman brightly "It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know? much more exciting here than at the office!"

"I think not, Ludo" said Crouch with a touch of his old impatience.

"Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime a nightcap?" said Dumbledore.

But Madame Maxime had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. Harry could hear them both talking very fast in French as they went off into the Great Hall. Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they left in silence.

"Harry, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them "I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."

Harry glanced at Mephisto.

_"Wait in the hall, I'll corner Crouch before he leaves, the others should be waiting for you..." _

Harry nodded at his uncle and followed Cedric out.

* * *

"So Harry... How did you get your name in?" Cedric asked as soon as they were out the door.

"I didn't put my name in..." Harry snarled slightly, 'Why did none of the others believe him?'

**"Because they're idiots"** Senbonzakura dead-panned.

"Right, sure you didn't" Cedric said lightly.

"If he said he didn't then he didn't" Amaimon said. He, Shura, Angel, Lightning, Rin, Yukio were waiting in the middle of the hall.

"Right..." Cedric said trailing off, as he walked out of the hall.

_"What was the verdict?_" Rin asked, surprisingly serious.

_"I have to compete..." _Harry said dejectedly.

Amaimon walked over and pulled him into a one armed hug,_ "Don't worry kiddo we've got your back" _

_"Yeah you've got nothing to worry about, Harry-chan"_ Shura said teasingly.

_"Don't call me that!" _Harry shouted.

They all laughed a bit, then Mephisto walked out of the room and up to Harry.

_"Well I asked Crouch and he said technically speaking if the sword is in a seal then it isn't on you and considering it would require magic to get it out it is legal... probably frowned upon by the other competitors but still technically legal"_

Harry and Senbonzakura both breathed sighs of relief.

_"Considering what is up ahead and the currently unidentified person who put Harry's name in the Goblet we all best be on our guard" _Angel said seriously.

_"Hai" _the other exorcists chorused.

* * *

**Well that's it for this chapter, thanks for reading!**

**XD**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey guys!**

**oh and Thanks 'Monstar315', I can't believe I missed Neville from the first bit... thanks for letting me know, I went back and quickly added him in...**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter! XD**

* * *

"English"

"emphasis" **  
**

'thoughts'

_"Japanese"_

**"Demon sword telepathy"**

**_"Demon telepathy"_**

* * *

Chapter 14

When they all got back to the common room, Harry was practically wrenched through the portrait hole by the people who had been waiting for him to come back, they all wanted to congratulate him on getting past the age line and no one was willing to listen to the fact he didn't put his name in, he was getting rather frustrated when Amaimon and Rin managed to shove thier way through the crowd and get him out of the common room with little protest (after all no one in Griffindor was willing to get on thier bad side).

_"Ignore them Harry" _Rin said wisely.

_"Yes you should focus on getting some rest, we're going to up your training tomorrow, by the time that first task roles around you will be prepared" _Amaimon said.

_"Sankyu..." _Harry muttered.

_"We'll go down and make sure none of them come up to bother you" _Rin said.

Harry merely nodded and walked into his room. Outside the door Rin and Amaimon exchanged worried looks before walking back downstairs.

* * *

Harry couldn't believe it, Ron thought he put his name in, but more importantly he didn't believe him when he said he didn't... His best/First friend didn't believe him! he thought he was being attention seeking!

"I didn't put my name in that goblet!_ Baka!_" Harry snapped starting to feel rather angry.

"Yeah, OK" Ron said, as skeptical as Cedric had been, "But you said if it had been you, you'd have put your name in last night... I'm not stupid you know"

"Well your doing a damn good impression of it!" Harry snarled.

"Yeah?" Ron said, "Well I expect you want to get to bed don't you? I expect you'll have to be up early for a photo shoot or something"

And with that said he wrenched the curtains around his four poster shut, leaving Harry stood by the door staring at the one of the few people he had been sure would believe him.

* * *

When he got up the next morning it was with the intent to force Ron to talk to him, but as he looked over at Ron's bed it was empty... He scowled and dressed quickly in camouflage cargo pants and a baggy 'Attack on titan' long sleeved t-shirt, as he walked down into the common room (still tying up his hair) it burst into applause. He scowled and walked resolutely through the common room and out the portrait hole without acknowledging any of the students trying to get his attention.

Outside the portrait hole was Amaimon, Rin, Neville, Luna and Hermione; who was holding a stack of toast in a napkin, He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted them.

"Hello," Hermione said "I thought you'd rather have this than go in the great hall at the moment..."

"Thanks Hermione" he said taking the toast from her.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Luna asked "The great hall really won't be very pleasant; Ravenclaw house had some rather nasty things to say about you"

"They think i'm attention seeking as well?" Harry said darkly.

"Yes actually, I told them you weren't like that but they refused to listen to me" Luna replied "I think the Wackspurts have made thier brains fuzzy, it must be affecting thier judgement..."

"Must be" Harry said sagely, "Well shall we go for this walk then?... oh you've not really met yet have you?... Luna this is Hermione Granger, 'mione this is Luna Lovegood"

"Hello!" Luna said brightly.

"Hi" Hermione replied.

* * *

As they walked down the stairs and into the entrance hall, they didn't spare the great hall a glance, Yukio, who was walking up from the Slytherin common room with Malfoy, hurried over to join them. Draco followed more reluctantly.

"We're going for a walk" Amaimon said shortly.

Yukio merely nodded and joined them, dragging Malfoy by the arm.

Hermione glared at Draco but didn't say anything, he just rolled his eyes at her.

They walked out across the grass and towards the lake, Harry sat down; sprawled, without a second thought, the others sat around him.

"What happened after you went with the other champions?" Hermione asked, "I was going to ask last night but couldn't get to you through the crowd."

So Harry told them everything that had happened... to his immense relief Hermione, Neville, Luna and even Draco accepted his story without question.

"It was obvious you didn't put your name in" Draco said with a scoff, "Anyone with a brain cell could tell just by looking at your face last night, no offence intended but you looked ready to faint"

"Who could have put your name in though?" Hermione asked, "Moody's right it would take some one extremely powerful to confund that cup"

"Well it wasn't any of the Slytherin older years, if it was there'd be no way they'd keep thier mouth shut about it" Draco said, and Yukio nodded in agreement.

"I highly doubt it was a student" a voice said.

They all turned around, Mephisto was stood there.

"The Goblet of Fire is a very powerful object, it is also Ancient, Magic like that (imbued with runes of course) grows stronger over time... No student could have put a spell on that cup" The King of Time said, "More than likely it was one of the teachers, headmasters, or the ministry workers..."

"Ludo Bagman was pleased Harry was in the tournament, wasn't he?" Rin said.

"He was... however do you really think someone as stupid as him could pull that off?" Amaimon said.

"Good point..." Rin conceded.

"Karkaroff was a death eater..." Malfoy said, they all turned to look at him, "He sold out a load of other death eaters to be kept out of Azkaban... My father is friends with him, that was why he wanted to send me to Durmstrang instead of here"

"Well that's a motive alright..." Yukio muttered.

"Yes... but we can't rule any one out just yet... Keep an eye on Moody as well, his magic signature is strange" Mephisto said as he walked away.

"Harry..." Hermione said after a brief pause, "You know what you have to do when you go back inside don't you?"

"Yeah, punch Ron in the face for being a jealous b-"

"No, you need to write to Sirius!" she snapped before she clamped a hand over her mouth looking wide eyed at the others.

Harry sighed...

"Hermione its okay, I already told Amaimon, Rin and Yukio and I'm pretty sure the others won't say anything..."

"But Harry-" Hermione said.

"Trust me Hermione it will be worse if we don't tell them and they make assumptions without knowing the whole story"

"You've got a point there..." she muttered quietly, "Sorry Harry..."

"Doesn't matter Hermione" Harry said immediately.

Amaimon cast a silence spell around the area so no one would be able to hear them.

Harry took a deep breath and told them all about the events of last year.

* * *

They all just sort of stared at him when he'd finished... it was unnerving.

"I can trust you not to tell anyone can't I?" Harry asked.

"Of course" Luna and Neville said immediately. Then they all looked at Malfoy.

"You don't have anything to worry about, I won't tell a soul." Draco said calmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well now that's sorted, we've got training to do, you can write to Sirius later" Amaimon said standing up, "By the time the first task is upon us you will need to be able to summon something at least and you'll also need to be able to access the true form of your sword... I know you've been working on Bankai but its time to put some serious effort into it"

Harry nodded, standing up as well, he was expecting something like this.

"You guys can watch if you want, I highly doubt you have better things to do..." Amaimon said walking off, with Harry trailing after him.

The others all shared looks and then ran to catch up to them.

* * *

Harry had assumed that it would be better once he went back to classes but it wasn't. He could no longer avoid the rest of the school and if it wasn't for his friends he probably would have snapped by now, Like Luna said the Ravenclaws thought he was just seeking attention (Luna had decided to sit at the Griffindor table because of this) and the Hufflepuffs were extremely cold towards him, the Slytherins were their usual selves and were making bets on how long he'd last in the first task however for once Malfoy wasn't bothering him (neither of them acted very friendly towards one another but neither of them made insulting comments about the other and generally just didn't bother each other).

Crabbe and Goyle had apparently decided to follow Nott and Zabini around (now that Malfoy had evidently ditched them to hang out with Yukio) and they laughed predictably whenever the two Slytherins made an insulting comment about Harry.

As tempted as he was to break thier bones Harry merely ignored them.

The next few days were really bad for Harry and his temper was becoming more and more frayed, they'd already had two minor earthquakes which Amaimon had to stop before it got worse. When they arrived outside of potions the Slytherins (Baring Malfoy and Yukio who were looking very awkward at that moment) were wearing 'support Cedric Diggory the real Hogwarts champion' badges that when pressed would change and say 'Potter Stinks'.

Amaimon growled darkly, Rin snarled. Harry just clenched his fists and scowled.

"Oh very funny," Hermione said, "Really witty" to the Slytherin girls who were laughing harder than any one.

"Want one Granger?" Theodore Nott said holding one out to her, "I've got loads but make sure you don't touch my hand, I wouldn't want a mudblood sliming it up"

Harry snarled at him, his fangs glinting in the dull light of the dungeon corridor.

Ron however plunged his hand into his robes and pulled out his wand.

"Go on then Weasley, no teachers are here" Nott said taughtingly as he pulled out his own wand.

People all around the corridor scattered as fast as Senbonzakura could.

"Furnunculus" Ron shouted at the same time Nott shouted:

"Densaugeo"

The lights collided in mid air and ricocheted off, Nott's spell hit Hermione and Ron's hit Goyle.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted rushing to her side.

* * *

Harry had never wanted to kill someone more than when Snape looked at Hermione after being hit with that curse and said there was no difference in her appearance.

The lights in the corridor flickered ominously as he snarled, But he decided that Hermione was more important now than showing Snape exactly what he thought of him or better yet crushing him with something. As Hermione ran off with tears in her eyes, he ran after her ignoring Snape, even as Rin and Ron started to shout at the potions bat.

It was lucky perhaps that they were shouting at the same time so Snape couldn't tell exactly what they were calling him.

* * *

Harry caught up to her as they made it into the entrance hall.

"Hermione wait!" he shouted grabbing her arm.

She whirled around and he saw tears running down her face, he pulled her into a hug ignoring the fact her front teeth now reached well past her collar.

"Ignore the bloody bat, he's an idiot we both know that... he's not worth crying over"

She just sniffled a bit.

"Come on, lets get you to the hospital wing" Harry said. She nodded in response wiping her eyes.

* * *

He waited with Hermione whilst Madame Pomfrey fixed her teeth, despite Madame Pomfrey trying to get him to leave and head back to class.

There was a knock on the infirmary doors, and Colin Creevy walked in.

"Excuse me, I have to take Harry Potter upstairs... I checked the Potions Classroom but Professor Snape said he didn't know where you were, Rin Okumura said you probably here though..."

"I'm not going anywhere until I'm positive Hermione's okay" Harry said vehemently.

"But Mr Bagman said you have to come upstairs for Photo's or something..." Colin said.

"I don't care I'm not going anywhere until I'm positive she's fine"

"Mr Potter she'll be fine. It is very simple to reverse a spell like this." Madam said sternly.

Harry ignored her and looked at Hermione, who's teeth were now just down to her chin, "I'll be fine" she assured him, even though her voice was slightly muted.

"As long as you're sure?" Harry asked uncertainly.

She nodded.

"Fine... I'll see you later Hermione"

* * *

"Good luck" Colin said when they reached the right room.

"Thanks Colin" Harry said wearily, as he walked into the room.

"Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come Harry, in you come... nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment-"

"Wand weighing?" Harry repeated curiously.

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore, and then there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter" he added, gesturing toward a witch in magenta robes "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet..."

"Maybe not that small, Ludo" said Rita Skeeter, her eyes on Harry.

Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She wore jewelled spectacles. The thick fingers clutching her crocodile-skin handbag ended in two-inch nails, painted crimson.

**"She looks like Effie Trinket from the Hunger games" **Senbonzakura said in disgust. Harry tried hard not to laugh.

"I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start?" she said to Bagman, but still gazing fixedly at Harry "The youngest champion, you know?... to add a bit of colour?"

"Certainly!" cried Bagman "That is... if Harry has no objection of course?"

"Er-"

"Lovely" said Rita Skeeter, and in a second, her scarlet-taloned fingers had Harry's upper arm in a surprisingly strong grip, but he wrenched his arm back regardless.

"Actually I do object thank you very much" He said coldly.

Mephisto who had walked in when Harry was talking with Bagman laughed and steered Harry away from the Effie Trinket look-a-like, _"Bit late aren't you?"_ he asked.

_"Hermione got hit with a spell, I went to the Hospital wing with her... Colin had to find me..."_

_"Ah... is she all right now?"_ Mephisto asked.

_"Yeah... considering Madame Pomfrey regrew all the bones in my arm second year, I'd say she's in good hands."_

Harry looked around, When he heard the door open, Albus Dumbledore was stood there.

"Dumbledore!" cried Rita Skeeter, with every appearance of delight, though it was obviously fake "How are you?" she said, walking over and holding out one of her large, mannish hands to Dumbledore "I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizard's Conference?"

"Enchantingly nasty," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling "I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete ding-bat."

Rita Skeeter didn't look remotely abashed, even as Harry and Mephisto burst out laughing.

"I was just making the point that some of your ideas are a little old-fashioned Dumbledore, and that many wizards on the street-"

"I will be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the rudeness, Rita" said Dumbledore, with a courteous bow and a smile "but I'm afraid we will have to discuss the matter later. The Weighing of the Wands is about to start."

The other champions were now sitting in chairs near the door, and Harry sat down quickly next to Cedric, looking up at the velvet-covered table, where four of the five judges were now sitting; Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr Crouch and Ludo Bagman. Rita Skeeter settled herself down in a corner; Harry saw her slip parchment out of her bag, and spread it on her knee, she sucked the end of a Quick-Quotes Quill, and place it on the parchment.

He narrowed his eyes at her, **"she's going to be trouble..." **his Partner said and Harry couldn't help but agree.

"May I introduce Mr Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judge's table and talking to the champions "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

Harry looked around, and with a jolt of surprise saw an old wizard with large, pale eyes standing quietly by the window. Harry had met Mr Ollivander before of course he was the wand-maker from whom Harry had bought his first wand over three years ago in Diagon Alley, the wand that Amaimon broke...

**"I don't think he'll be happy to find that out..."**

'Well it wasn't my fault...' Harry replied scowling.

"_Didn't he make the wand Amaimon broke?"_ Mephisto asked him quietly apparently on the same wavelength.

_"Unfortunately he did..." _

Mephisto laughed quietly.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first please?" said Mr Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room.

Fleur Delacour swept over to Mr Ollivander and handed him her wand.

"Hmm..." he said.

He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it chose to his eyes and examined it carefully.

"Yes" he said quietly "nine and a half inches... inflexible... rosewood... and containing... dear me..."

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a Veela" said Fleur. "One of my grandmuzzer's."

So Fleur was part Veela, thought Harry, making a mental note to tell Ron... then he remembered that Ron wasn't speaking to him, he scowled again.

"Yes" said Ollivander "yes... I've never used Veela hair myself of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands... however, to each his own, and if this suits you..."

Mr Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he muttered "Orchideous!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.

"Very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wand. "Mr Diggory, you next."

Fleur glided back to her seat, smiling at Cedric as he passed her.

"Ah, now, this is one of mine isn't it?" Mr Ollivander said; with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn... must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches... ash... pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition... You treat it regularly?"

"Polished it last night" said Cedric; grinning.

Harry looked down at his own wand, it was a fine wand he knew, he had never bothered to polish it (despite the fact he polished and cleaned his sword every single night with out fail, it never occurred to him to do the same to his wand...)

Mr Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, pronounced himself satisfied, and then said, "Mr Krum, if you please."

Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck-footed, toward Mr Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"Hmm..." said Ollivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I... however..."

He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes "Yes... hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees... quite rigid... ten and a quarter inches... Avis!"

The hornbeam wand let off a blast hike a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.

"Good" said Mr Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand "Which leaves... Mr Potter."

Harry sighed as he got up, 'this will be fun...' he thought sarcastically.

He walked towards Mr Ollivander and pulled his wand out of the holster he had strapped to his thigh, he handed it wordlessly to the wand-maker.

Ollivander frowned at the wand, "Where is the wand I sold you three years ago?" he asked sternly. Everyone else in the room looked sharply at them in interest; except Mephisto who was trying not to laugh.

Harry flinched, "Er... it sort of broke..." he said quietly.

Mr Ollivander narrowed his eyes at him, "And how did it break?"

"Hey, it was not my fault! I put it down for one second and... Amaimon accidently dropped a big Bariyon on it! it was entirely his fault!... I had to buy another one in Japan" Harry said crossing his arms over his chest as he scowled, ignoring the fact he sounded like a small spoilt child.

"It is always is such a shame to see a wand damaged and destroyed..." Ollivander said, Harry flinched at the sadness in his voice.

"I kept the biggest pieces though and the phoenix feather..." Harry said nervously when Mr Ollivander looked to be getting rather depressed.

**"He isn't taking the news very well is he?... he likes his wands a bit too much even for a wand-maker..."**

"it was a particularly fine wand... but it seems we shall have to move on shall we not?" Mr Ollivander said; considerably less excited than he had been before, he twirled the wand around his hands and inspected it closely "Hmm... 18 inches, rather long... Cherry blossom wood, nicely etched and... an unknown core...?" He looked at Harry sharply, "What is the core?"

"Er... it was some of my hairs actually... the shop keeper had to make a custom wand... my magic kept rejecting the wands... and even blew two up..." Harry replied nervously.

"Destroyed the shop pretty well too" Mephisto commented.

_"URUSAI" _Harry snapped turning bright red.

"Very unusual, I have only had to make one custom wand in all my career... very unusual indeed... but you were awfully hard to match in the first place... this wand is definitely a good match for you... and as much as I would not like to admit it, this wand is a much better match for you than the Holly and Phoenix wand I sold you" Mr Ollivander said, as if Harry and Mephisto hadn't spoken.

He inspected the wand again; critically. Harry was mildly insulted; his wand was fine, it was two toned; the twisted wood of the handle was darker stained than the rest of the wand which was a light reddy-brown, there was a slim golden band separating the handle form the rest of the wand and the wood was etched with delicate cherry blossom petals. He and Senbonzakura were rather fond (and slightly possessive) of his new wand.

Mr Ollivander spent much longer inspecting his wand than the other's wands, but he finally made a fountain of wine shot out the end (which Harry jumped to the side to dodge as it was rather more powerful than usual) and proclaimed it: "In perfect condition... a tad powerful though"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he was handed his wand back.

* * *

He wasn't lucky enough to get away without taking part of the pictures, and it took forever... Senbonzakura was on the verge of pulling his long brown hair out in frustration and Harry was very glad he'd left Nai with his father that day. Mephisto was dragged into the picture considering he was Harry's 'superior officer' and the Photographer wanted to make sure Fleur was in the centre but Rita wanted Harry and Mephisto to be the most obvious ones (which had them exchanging exasperated looks, she was clearly going to have a field day publishing the BWL as an Exorcist, and she made sure thier badges were in plain sight) it took forever, by the time they were released lunch had already started. He sat at the end of the Griffindor table with Amaimon, Rin and Luna (who had once again decided to sit with them instead of at the Ravenclaw table, not that he was complaining) and filled them in on what had happened; they all agreed with him that Skeeter was going to be a lot of trouble.

* * *

The first task kept looming ever closer and the older Exorcists were really putting pressure on his training (even Angel and Lightning helped out) they seemed to be invigorated by Rita's rather derogatory comments about Harry and his 'new-found ambition to be part of the Exorcist order'. Mephisto was going to sue her... and the Daily Prophet, she didn't even interview Harry once and yet her piece on the Triwizard tournament was a highly coloured life story about him; complete with a fake interview, she'd even found out that Mephisto, Angel and the Vatican were fighting the Ministry of Magic for custody of Harry from his Muggle relatives and his Magical Guardian: Dumbledore.

Harry felt like hiding in a hole somewhere until the publicity dies down, and Ron still wasn't talking to him, it made him feel much better though when; in front of the entire school during lunch one day, Luna walked up to him and said she didn't believe the rubbish in the prophet for a second and that Rita Skeeter should be ashamed of herself. He could have hugged her.

At least he had speaking to Sirius to look forwards to...

The Hogsmeade weekend raised its ugly head once again and Hermione managed to talk him into going, they were going as a big group though: Amaimon, Rin, Yukio, Shura, Mephisto, Neville, Luna, Hermione, Draco and Himself (Although it took quite a bit of effort to talk Draco into coming with them, Harry still didn't know how Yukio had managed it).

Getting into the village wasn't hard but once they were in they attracted a lot of stares (Harry was surely tempted to put his invisibility cloak on but didn't bother, it wasn't really fair on the others and Amaimon wisely told him to walk with his head held high and not to give a damn about what any one else thinks) they also had to avoid Rita Skeeter; and by avoid they mean glare at her until she walks quickly in the opposite direction.

They decided to enter into the three broom sticks as it was rather cold, Harry had already lent Luna his coat.

They sat there drinking Butterbeer (whilst Mephisto and Shura had _sake)_ whilst garnering some odd looks; they were after all an unusual group, complete with a tiny greenman and a black two tailed cat...

"Look it's Hagrid!" Hermione said suddenly.

She was indeed correct, Hagrid had just walked in through the door with Professor Moody, they muttered something to each other and then walked over to the large group clustered around a rather small table.

"Alright you lot?" Hagrid asked.

There was a chorus of various replies in affirmative, whilst Shura ignored the big man and challenged Mephisto to _sake_ shots; he smirked and accepted the challenge.

Hagrid bent down as if looking at Hermione's notebook (which was out on the table) and said quietly "Harry meet me at midnight at me cabin. Wear ya cloak."

He straightened up and said loudly, "Nice ta see yer" before he departed with Moody.

"Why does he want me to meet him at midnight?" Harry asked, completely bewildered.

"He wants you to what?" Hermione said, "What if you're late to speak with Sirius?"

"We'll cover for you in case you're late" Rin said without a second thought, Amaimon nodded in agreement.

"Why would he specify a cloak?" Draco asked bemused.

"He has an invisibility cloak" Luna said.

"Oh..."

* * *

At half past eleven Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and headed out to meet Hagrid. They grounds were pitch black when he made it outside, luckily it didn't effect his vision in the slightest, he walked swiftly across the grounds towards the dim light emitted from Hagrids hut. He knocked quietly on the door.

"Yer there 'Arry?" Hagrid said quietly when the door was opened.

"Yeah..." he muttered, as he walked inside, "Whats up?"

"I've got something to show you..." Hagrid said vaguely, leading him back out, "Keep yer cloak on and stay quiet"

As Hagrid picked Madame Maxime up from the Beauxbatons carriage, Harry was sorely tempted to turn around and walk away, but nonetheless he jogged silently after them as they trekked along the forbidden forest edge. They walked so far that the castle and lake were no longer in sight, Harry was just about to leave and head back in when he heard an ear-splitting roar.

He clamped his hands down over his sensitive ears, but the roar still left them ringing. He grabbed the handle of his sword and silently began to draw it from its sheath; running the amount of demons that make a sound like that through the mental list in his head.

He edged around Hagrid and Maxime to find out what they were staring at, hand still on his sword handle, when he spotted them.

He stared open mouthed in awe and no small amount of fear.

Dragons.

* * *

**And that's it for this chapter!**

**Hope you enjoyed it**


	16. Chapter 15

**Hello!**

**And here's another chapter, hope you enjoy it! And thanks for your reviews and support!**

**XD**

* * *

"English"

"emphasis" **  
**

'thoughts'

_"Japanese"_

**"Demon sword telepathy"**

_**"Demon telepathy"**_

**_"Parseltongue" _**

* * *

Chapter 15

Dragons.

Dragons.

Harry stared and stared, he rubbed his eyes to check he wasn't seeing things, yet there they were still; in all thier glory.

Four fully grown, enormous, viscous looking dragons, that were shooting thick plumes of fire into the night sky; painting the inky blackness a vibrant orange.

Harry watched the exchange between Hagrid and Charlie (Ron's older brother) rather detached from it all, he was transfixed to the, by now stunned, dragons (he couldn't help but think it was rather cruel to drag those magnificent creatures from all across the globe; up rooting them from thier homes just for a tournament... did the wizards seriously think that they were better than the dragons and could do what the hell they pleased! it wasn't very fair...)

They were amazing though... Although he probably wouldn't think that up close; when they're breathing fire at him for instance, but they were amazing to see (No wonder Charlie wanted to be a dragon handler).

As Charlie and Hagrid continued to talk Harry crept away.

As soon as he was far enough away that no one would see him, he shrugged the cloak off and put it into his pocket, and shifted into his animagus form.

He instantly felt his senses sharpen and heighten, and he took off running; he sprinted effortlessly, his powerful muscles easily powering him onwards. He darted into the forest; flitting in and out of the deep shadows under the canopy at the edge of the woods.

Then suddenly he crashed into something, falling head over paws and skidding across the leafy forest floor.

"OW! what the hell was that?! who's there?" A voice said.

Harry stood up shaking the leaves out of his pelt and looked at who he'd run into; It was Karkaroff. He glared up at the Durmstrang Headmaster with his yellow eyes and growled.

Karkaroff backed hastily away, until his back hit a thick tree trunk. The white, shadowy, menacing shape with eerie glowing eyes stared at him for a moment that felt like an eternity and then ran off, vanishing out of sight into the night, leaving Karkaroff staring at the spot where the wolf had stood.

* * *

Harry made it back with just minutes to spare, his father and Rin were waiting for him when he arrived. He slumped into a chair by the fire and let out a tired breath.

"I have something really important to tell you..." He said eventually.

"Well lets all hear it then?" A voice said.

Harry leapt up drawing his sword as he did, whilst his Father and Uncle got into fighting stances. They relaxed when they heard a barking laugh.

Harry turned to look at the fire and there was Sirius's head sitting in the fire, Had he not seen Diggory (senior) use the same method of communication he would have been rather freaked out.

Harry crouched by the fire, Amaimon stood behind him, Rin was keeping watch of the stairs to make sure no one was coming.

"So are you going to introduce me to your friends?" Sirius said lightly.

"What... oh right... Sirius this is Amaimon and Rin Okumura, you guys this is my Godfather Sirius"

The other Exorcists merely nodded in acknowledgement.

"How are you anyway?" Harry asked.

"Never mind me, how are you?" Sirius replied.

"I'm alright-" Harry said and then launched into a rant about everything that happened, from the wand weighing and Rita's article to Ron's jealousy and his new friends, "-and now Hagrid's shown me that the first task involves getting past a Dragon!"

"A what?" Amaimon and Rin practically shouted.

"They can't be serious..." Rin said uncertainly.

"They are... and the dragons are huge..." Harry muttered.

Sirius merely said "Dragons we can deal with later but right now I need to tell you something important-"

* * *

Harry was furious, Sirius had just been about to tell him how to defeat the Dragon when Rin alerted them that someone was coming down the stairs. It had been Ron... he'd missed finding out how to survive against a dragon because of a jealous ex-friend!.

So maturely they got into an argument and Harry threw a support Cedric Diggory badge at the red-heads forehead (with surprising accuracy).

* * *

They spent the next few days researching useful spells and training until he had to be practically dragged back into the school every night. It didn't help his nerves any especially due the lack of information about how to deal with dragons, seriously how is a book titled 'men who love Dragons too much' helpful in anyway at all?!

It had occurred to him on Monday morning that Cedric would be the only champion who didn't know about the Dragons, this he found deeply unsettling... His father and his Uncle Mephisto said he should give himself every advantage he can, so Cedric not knowing was good for him, but Rin and Yukio thought that he should tell Cedric to make it fair; unfortunately for him they all made rather good points.

As he watched Cedric walk out of the Great Hall, on Monday, he followed him. 'Damn my conscience'

When he saw Cedric walking up the stairs he saw his chance.

"Diffindo" he whispered.

Cedric's bag split; spilling his books and equipment across the floor at the bottom of the stairs, after seeing Cedric's friends walk on Harry hurried out from where he'd hid around the corner and walked up to him.

"Hi..." Cedric said from where he was picking up his things from the floor, "My bags just split... brand new and all..."

"Cedric..." Harry said getting his attention, whilst he checked no one else was in the corridor, "The first task is dragons... we have to get past them"

Cedric looked up at him sharply, "You're sure?" he asked in hushed voice.

Harry nodded, "I saw them the other night..."

"Why are you telling me?" Cedric asked sceptical.

"Because Maxime and Karkaroff found the Dragons too, they'll tell thier champions of course and it wouldn't have been fair if you didn't know..." Harry said turning around and hurrying away "Good luck in the task."

He ran as soon as he was around the corner of the corridor, ignoring what sounded like Moody's voice calling him, He hadn't forgotten what Mephisto said about keeping an eye on Moody and he definitely didn't trust the ex-auror; not one bit.

* * *

The night before the task they all stayed up until two in the morning practising any spells they thought he'd find useful, he had a rough plan for what to do but as his uncle Mephisto had said most battle plans don't last though the first encounter with the enemy. Worst comes to worst he was going to summon his broom and try to out fly the creature... he didn't like that plan very much, the idea of being completely vulnerable in mid air with a dragon nearby was not something he wanted to do.

He'd been working so hard on learning new spells and training to the point of exhaustion that his blind panic had dissipated, that morning it was back in full force. Lessons were ending early that day so students could watch the first task, but other than that lessons were supposed to be normal. Harry had decided to edit his uniform though; he had exchanged his straight legged, grey trousers for slim black cargo pants and his shiny, smart school shoes for black combat boots that laced up to just below his knee. He had stored Senbonzakura in his seal the day before and was missing its comforting presence on his back.

It was lunch time way before any of them would have liked, he ate some rice but wouldn't touch anything else. All too soon McGonagall was hurrying over to him.

"Potter, the champions have to come down into the grounds now... you have to get ready for the first task"

"OK," he muttered getting up.

"Good Luck" His friends all said quietly.

"Harry, take this... it will be easier to move in than that robe" Amaimon said, handing him his signature reddy-brown coat.

"Thanks..." Harry murmured, and he meant it to, it really did mean a lot to him, after all it represented his father's support.

He shrugged off his robe and pulled the coat on, his father was right off course; it was much easier to move in.

He than followed McGonagall out the entrance hall and into the grounds. As he walked he wrapped his forearms and knuckles with white bandages, the coat only covered up to his elbow and he only ever wore short sleeved school shirts, and in his opinion it was better to be safe than sorry especially against such a large and powerful opponent.

"Now Potter... Don't panic, keep a cool head and there will be wizards nearby if things get out of hand... the Ministry decided that as you have to compete you can represent the True Cross order, leaving only one Hogwarts champion" Her tone of voice told Harry all he needed to know about her opinion on the ministry taking one of her cubs away. "The main thing is to do your best and no one will think any less of you... are you alright?"

"Yeah" he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

When they reached where the dragons were being kept he saw a tent had been erected to keep the dragons from the champions view.

"Well here we are Potter... You're to go in there and wait for your turn" McGonagall said in a shaky voice.

"Thanks" he said walking towards the tent, he pushed aside the tent flap and stepped inside. The other champions were already there.

Mr Bagman looked like a life size cartoon compared to the pale and clammy champions. Harry said down on the floor with his back to the tent wall, he unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt and pulled at his tie so it hung loose and un-constricting.

"Well... now we're all here its time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly, Harry scowled at him, "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different... er... varieties, you see, and I have to tell you something else too... ah yes... your task is to collect the golden egg!"

Harry glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly how Harry felt. But they, at least, had volunteered for this...

And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking... Harry felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species (Well if he thought about it he was, after all even though his father hadn't had any of his powers at the time when Harry was born he was still half demon and would probably outlive all the other Hogwarts children by centuries) and then, it seemed like just a second later to Harry, Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack.

"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.

She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon; a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck and Harry knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that he had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming.

The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball; It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.

Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-grey Swedish Short-Snout, the number one tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Harry put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail; and the number four. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs; He snarled back slightly.

"Well, there you are!" said Bagman, "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now... Harry... could I have a quick word? Outside?"

Harry stared at him for a moment before he said coldly, "I must apologize Mr Bagman but i'd rather plan for the task and don't really have time to speak to you now"

Bagman was a man with an ulterior motive that much Harry could tell. Bagman spluttered for a minute or two before a whistle blew somewhere and Mr Bagman hurried off.

Cedric left the tent looking even greener than before.

Seconds later, Harry heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to-face with the living counterpart of his model.

It was worse than Harry could have imagined, just sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed, yelled, gasped like a single entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent, and Bagman's commentary made everything much worse... Horrible pictures formed in Harry's mind as he heard: "Ooh, narrow miss there, very narrow"... "He's taking risks, this one!"... "Clever move... pity it didn't work!"

And then, after about fifteen minutes, they heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.

"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting, "And now the marks from the judges!"

But he didn't shout out the marks; Harry supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd.

"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again, "Miss Delacour, if you please!"

Fleur was trembling from head to foot; Harry felt more warmly toward her than he had done so far as she heft the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. He and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze.

The same process started again..."Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully, Harry was really beginning to hate him "Oh... nearly! Careful now... good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"

Ten minutes later, Harry heard the crowd erupt into applause once more... Fleur must have been successful too. A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown... more clapping... then, for the third time, the whistle.

"And here comes Mr Krum!" cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Harry alone.

He bit at his long nails absently, glaring at the floor, He breathed in deeply and let out great breaths trying to calm his heart beat down.

"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Harry heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing... and... yes, he's got the egg!"

Applause shattered the frigid air like breaking glass; Krum had finished... it would be Harry's turn any moment.

He stood up, pulling his wand from the thin holster on his leg and then he waited.

He heard the whistle blow and walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside him. And now he was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence.

He saw everything in front of him as though it was a very highly coloured dream. There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that had been magicked there since he'd last stood on this spot. There was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Harry didn't know or care. He spotted his Father and Uncles sat with Angel, Lightning, Shura, Hermione, Luna, Neville and surprisingly Draco and Ron (Although those two were sat as far from each other as possible whilst still sat with the others.

He took a deep breath and stepped further into the enclosure, tense and ready to move at a moments notice, his wand ready at his side.

The dragon stared at him, narrowing her eyes, she shifted nervously. It roared a warning but he still stepped closer. The dragon was deeply unnerved, the green haired creature didn't smell human even though he looked like one, he smelt like a being of Gehenna and that made her unsettled.

She raised her scaly head and breathed a great blast of fire at the thing that dared to challenge her. The creature spun to the side deftly dodging the blast, his green eyes flashing crimson. The dragon paused and curled up around the eggs tighter, she didn't like this at all, she could sense bubbling demonic power beneath that human skin she roared once more.

_**"LEAVE AND DON'T RETURN DEMON PRINCE SPAWN! STAY AWAY FROM ME AND MY EGGS!"**_

Harry's eyes widened, he understood that... but how could the dragon speak... he looked around, no one else noticed even his father and uncles looked oblivious.

His jaw dropped and he understood... Parseltongue! A dragon was a reptile; a cousin to a snake.

_**"I can't I need that golden egg!... its not yours! why would you defend it?"**_ He hissed back. He noticed that the dragon sounded like it had a different accent to him.

The she dragon looked shocked before roaring once more, _**"It does not matter if the egg is mine I have taken it into my nest and will defend it like my own!"**_

Harry felt very guilty, it had sort of adopted the egg (Whether it was real or not) and he was here to steal it, didn't that make him feel fantastic.

_**"Its not real! its made of gold!" **_he tried to argue.

The dragon merely roared back unintelligibly and angrily.

_**"We can get out of this without fighting!" **_

_**"DO NOT THINK YOURSELF BETTER THAN ME DEMON! YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONGER THAN ME?! YOU ARE SMALL AND WEAK AND I WILL DESTROY YOU AND RETURN HOME TAKING ALL OF MY EGGS WITH ME!"**_

Harry sighed and raised his wand.

The dragon shot another ball of fire towards him, he launched himself to the side with a one handed cartwheel, he was barely back onto his feet when he felt vibrations running through the earth telling him the dragons tail was heading for his head. He leapt high into the air and back flipped over the tail; his long coat swishing lightly as he landed crouched on all fours. He narrowed his eyes at the dragon.

He dimly heard Mr Bagman say, "That was a very close shave for Mr Potter! Very Fast on his feet!"

The dragon hadn't really moved from its position over the eggs but it crouched lower over them, even so he still caught the glint of gold among them.

He swore loudly in Japanese, 'How in Satan's name am I supposed to get those eggs?!'

The dragon roared once more expelling flames his way.

As the flames sped towards him he gathered up his magic, his body and eyes started to glow purest white. "GLACIUS TRIA" He shouted, A great burst of ice exploded from his wand as he put a large amount of magic into the spell. The ice blast collided in mid air with the flames, neither would relent and pull thier power back as steam spread like waves from the epicentre of the clash. The steam spread though the enclosure obscuring thier vision.

Finally they both stopped thier respective attacks, Harry knew he wouldn't have much time and used the earth to guide him he dived behind a large rocky outcrop as the steam began to dissipate.

He heard Bagman say, "Clever trick using the steam to hide"

He stayed crouched behind the large rock as he stretched out his senses and could tell the Dragon was looking for him; swinging her great scaly head back and fourth, scanning the grounds for him.

He could tell she was still curled around the eggs and it would take a hell of a lot to move her, he grimly noticed she was like a big fire breathing lizard version of his own mother.

He needed a distraction and then he could try to sneak under her guard and grab the egg... and apologize to the poor dragon profusely as he makes a hasty exit.

He pointed his wand at his left hand and whispered, "Diffindo" carefully controlling the spell to only cut his palm thinly.

"What on earth is Mr Potter doing?" he heard Bagman ask incredulously.

The Dragon shifted nervously, its one thing to challenge a demon smaller than herself but to not know where one is left her rattled.

_**"COME OUT COME OUT LITTLE DEMON! YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME FOREVER!" **_She roared.

Harry carefully but quickly drew out the summoning symbol in his blood, _"Arise!"_

Dozens of large Hobgoblins rose out of the ground bringing with them coal tar who flocked to thier demonic energy.

_**"Just distract her don't kill or maim understand?" **_he told them.

The demons nodded in response and shot towards the Dragon who cried out in anger and a small but of fear. Harry bolted out from his hiding spot and sprinted towards the dragon, she wasn't immediately distracted and shot another ball of fire at him, he leapt to the side to avoid it and pointed his wand towards her.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM" he knew it wouldn't hurt her but a giant silvery Hobgoblin king that you can't hit would distract anything especially coupled with actual demons. Whilst the silver light of his Patronus shielded him from the dragons eyes he shifted into his animagus form and sprinted towards the dragon dodging a hobgoblin that was sent flying past him by the dragons spiked tail 'its lucky hobgoblins have thick skin.' he thought.

"I CAN BARELY BELIEVE WHAT I'M SEEING! THE PATRONUS CHARM USED AS A DISTRACTION TO HIDE AN ANIMAGUS TRANSFORMATION! AN ANIMAGUS AT FOURTEEN! HIS TRANSFIGURATION TEACHER MUST BE PROUD" he heard Bagman shout.

He raced towards the dragon and ducked under her legs shooting towards the eggs, they were a hairs breath away when the dragon spun around and struck him with her wing, he went flying through the air.

He shifted back in mid-air and flipped over landing on his feet and skidding backwards, ignoring the twinge of pain he felt form the power of the strike.

_"Chikusho!" _he cursed.

He dismissed the demons and the Patronus as he tried to think if a new strategy.

_**"You really thought that trick would work on me, your form may change but your scent stays the same!"**_ The dragon roared mockingly.

"Nothing else for it now..." He muttered. He pulled his shirt collar down and exposed the top of his tattoo.

"_Devour the eight princesses, Slay the serpent" _He said clearly.

The tattoo began to glow and a hilt appeared from it, he grabbed the hilt and pulled the sword out the rest of the way.

Slipping his wand back into his holster and putting his swords sheath on his back, he held Senbonzakura out in-front of him and levelled it at the dragon.

The Horntail launched her spiked tail towards him, but he calmly said: _"Chire, Senbonzakura"_

His sword dissolved into the petals and raised them selves up as a shield, he heard Bagman question his sanity about leaving flower petals to defend him but he ignored the irritating man.

The dragons tail impacted the cherry blossoms but they did not waver even as the dragon repeatedly struck her tail against them, he watched carefully as she finally pulled her tail away, there were minute scratches along it but not the amount of damage there should be. Well dragon hide is supposed to be very thick and very strong. He raised the remaining hilt of the sword and directed the petals at the dragon. This carried on for a minute or two; the two exchanging blows between the dragons natural daggers and the razor sharp petals of senbonzakura occasionally dodging blasts of fire.

As Harry flipped sideways out of the way of another plume of flame he pulled Senbonzakura's petals back to the hilt and reformed his sword.

The dragon was barely scratched at all... Harry sighed and held his sword point down in one hand.

Then he dropped it.

"WHAT IN HELLS NAME IS HE DOING?" Bagman shouted.

The sword fell towards the ground, but instead of clattering to the rocky ground like they expected it to the tip disappeared into the earth, ripples seemed to spread form where it was vanishing until the hilt was gone as well.

"_Senbonzakura kageyoshi" _He said clearly, as to him and the Dragon the world went black.

_**"This is the true form of Senbonzakura, in which I sacrifice all forms of defense to defeat my enemies"**_He told the dragon who was beginning to look very unsettled.

A thousand huge blades rose up out of the ground one after another in canon creating white ripples of pure energy in the blackness.

The audience was stunned to silence at the sight of the blades, the Exorcists wanted to cheer but knew that Harry would no longer be able to hear them and told his friends so.

The blades dissolved into an immeasurable amount of petals they swirled around them as if caught in a swift breeze on a summers day.

Harry held out his hand and Senbonzakura reformed from the mass swirling around them, glowing with pink energy briefly.

"_Senbonzakura kageyoshi,_ _Shūkei: Hakuteiken" _he said.

The petals all converged onto the blade he held in his hand. His magical energy rocketed and the pressure snatched away some of the audiences breath and made it hard to breathe. Pure white wings of energy formed off of his back and spread thier massive wingspan, there was a halo like circle spread all the way around him made of pure undiluted energy that kept sparking like lightning.

The ground beneath him cracked under the pressure from the magic he was emitting.

If he could have heard Mr Bagman then he would have heard him splutter about the level of Magic they were seeing but of course to Harry and the Dragon there was no one else in the world.

His wings flapped slightly rising him off the ground he looked the dragon right in the eye.

He could see the dragon shaking with fright but she looked back at him defiantly, her yellow eyes meeting his green ones.

_**"If you back down now you will not be hurt... I promise the only egg I will take is the golden one... It is not real, it is not alive it will never hatch" **_He said calmly.

_**"Swear on your Grandfather, the god of demons, that you speak only the truth!"**_ She roared, there was little else she could do, she knew now that she couldn't beat him, and she'd been a stupid fool to think that she could be a Son of one of the Demon princes, she was lucky he and his father were lenient.

_**"I swear on Satan; the God of Demons, that I speak nothing but the truth when I say that none of the eggs will be harmed and that the golden one is merely a cruel imitation by the Human Magic users!"**_

She reluctantly backed away from the eggs as he used his powerful wings to fly closer, and crouched by the enclosure wall watching him closer than a hawk would watch its prey.

He dissipated the energy back into the petals that swirled around them (but didn't let go of his bankai yet) and dropped the remaining 10 feet onto the ground. He landed right next the eggs with a swish of his Fathers long coat. He carefully picked up the golden egg without disturbing any of the others and backed away from them hurriedly but calmly.

The Dragon rushed back over to her eggs as he let go of his Bankai and reformed Senbonzakura into his hand, putting it back into his sheath.

The Dragon still stared at him wearily even as he nodded to her. He walked calmly away from the dragon as the crowd burst into cheers; none louder than his family and friends.

"DID YOU SEE THAT? DID YOU SEE THAT? HE INTIMIDATED THE DRAGON INTO BACKING OFF THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE AND HE TOOK LESS TIME THAN IT TOOK CEDRIC TO GET THE EGG!" Bagman was shouting.

Harry started a bit at that; he thought he'd taken ages to get the egg.

Suddenly his path was cut off by the dragons mighty tail, he cursed even as the dragon handlers burst into the enclosure to try and bring the dragon under control.

_**"Wait Son of the Demon prince..."**_ He heard the dragon say as he turned around and stared at the dragon, tense and ready to dodge any of her attacks. _**"Take this..." **_she said picking up one of her eggs gently with her great clawed scaly talons and putting it on the ground in front of him. **"I know you could have killed me or the eggs you choose not too, typically Dragons and Demons do not get along with one another but yet you spared my life when I now know you could easily have taken it if you had chosen to... take this egg and lets start better relations between out two species, after all we are not so different" **

Harry just stared at her even when she nudged the egg towards him once more.

He began to splutter and even the Dragon handlers had stopped in thier tracks astonished.

_**"I can't just..." **_

_**"We dragons respect power and you have it in spades now GO! you were victorious now please take the eggs and leave"**_

He gently picked up the egg and walked backwards away until he was sure the dragon wasn't using this as a ploy to kill him and he dashed out of the enclosure, looking back at her all the time.

Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody and Hagrid hurried towards him as the Dragon handlers rushed to subdue the Horntail, but she backed down without much of a fight.

"That was excellent Potter! truly amazing! Completely unexpected but Amazing none-the-less" She looked very pleased and very proud. "But what are you going to do with the other egg, she was quite insistent you keep it..."

"I have no idea..." He muttered.

Professor McGonagall merely smiled at him and said: "Well we shall cross that bridge when we come to it however you have to go get checked up by Madame Pomfrey, so lets go shall we."

Moody and Hagrid both said thier congratulations as Professor McGonagall led him off.

Harry walked over with McGonagall and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking rather worried.

"Dragons!" she said, disgusted, pulling Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry looking for injuries, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next?"

"Now, just sit quietly for a minute. Sit! and then you can go and get your score."

She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"

Harry didn't want to sit still: He was too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he'd reached the mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside, Hermione followed closely by Ron.

"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione said shrilly. "You were amazing! You really were!"

But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Harry as though he were a ghost.

"Harry," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet... I... I reckon they're trying to do you in!"

It was as though the last few weeks had never happened; as though Harry were meeting Ron for the first time, right after he'd been made champion.

"Caught on, have you?" said Harry coldly "Took you long enough."

Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Harry knew Ron was about to apologize and suddenly he found he didn't need to hear it.

"It's okay," he said before Ron could get the words out. "Forget it."

"No," said Ron, "I shouldn't have-"

"Forget it, "Harry said.

Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back Hermione burst into tears.

"There's nothing to cry about!" Harry told her, bewildered.

"You two are so stupid!" she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. Then, before either of them could stop her, she had given both of them a hug and dashed away, now positively howling.

"Barking mad," said Ron, shaking his head. "C'mon, they'll be putting up your scores..."

Picking up the golden egg and the real one, feeling more elated than he would have believed possible an hour ago, Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron by his side, talking fast.

"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground... turned it into a big dog... he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well; the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador... he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance... well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire, she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. And Krum... you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs, they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them." Harry growled as Ron mentioned Krum getting the eggs squashed, '_Baka!_' he thought angrily.

Ron drew breath as he and Harry reached the stands of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Harry could see that the five judges were sitting right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.

"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron said, and Harry squinting up the field, saw the first judge; Madame Maxime, raise her wand in the air. What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I don't know what she took marks off... maybe it was because you got hit..."

Mr Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back.

Next was Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.

Ludo Bagman put up a ten.

"Ten?" said Harry incredulously.

"Harry, don't complain!" Ron yelled excitedly.

Now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too, it was a four.

"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scum-bag, you gave Krum ten!"

Harry also heard his family and friends yelling furiously at him, as they headed towards him.

"Well done Harry" His father said ruffling his hair, and to Harry that meant the world, "You can keep the coat by the way, it really suits you"

Harry just beamed.

"Yeah you did great kiddo and you get a real dragon out of it" Rin said happily. Nai and Kuro who were sat on his shoulders loudly showed thier support as well.

Mephisto swung his arm around his shoulders and said brightly, "You did brilliantly! we'll make an upper class exorcist out of you yet"

"You really did very well Harry, I think Karkaroff's mind was addled by the Nargles there was no other reason to give you such a low score" Luna said as dreamily as usual. Harry just beamed at her.

There were lots of congratulations going around from them all (even Angel, Shura and Lightning said congratulations) and even Draco said he did well in a roundabout way; "Well you didn't splatter across the ground or be incinerated, so you did much better than I thought you would."

Then the ministry wizards showed up headed by Crouch.

"Potter we'll be disposing of the dragon egg now, she obviously won't take it back into its nest and it is illegal to raise a dragon by the Ministry of Magic's law, it will be kinder for us to destroy it" Mr Crouch said sharply.

Amaimon, Rin and Shura growled.

"You can't just kill it! it deserves as much a chance to live as you do!" Harry snarled at him.

"You cannot keep it! it goes against our laws for a British citizen to raise a dragon!" Crouch snapped back.

"What is going on here?!" McGonagall said storming over.

"They're going to kill my Dragon egg!" Harry snapped moving the egg out of the way of any of thier wands.

"I know the law... but... but you can't just kill an unborn creature!" McGonagall said scandalized.

"It is a ruthless monster with sub-par intelligence!"

Harry growled, "Just because you can't understand what it says doesn't mean its not smart!"

"I'm going to interject here" Mephisto said, "I would have thought the whole of the ministry would be aware of this but yesterday evening I acquired the Guardianship of Harry James Potter meaning that he no longer classed as a British Citizen and is in fact a Ward of the True Cross order and Japan, and it is perfectly legal for them to raise a dragon even in Britain because he is not a British citizen and exempt from such rules... and I would watch your mouths or I will ensure that he will not be coming back to finish his schooling next year and will be instead attending True Cross Academy or if necessary Mahou Tokoro."

They all stared at Mephisto before Harry gave his uncle a huge hug, smiling brightly.

"Now" Mephisto said patting Harry on the head when he was released, "Lets get out of these stands, I'm positive that Hagrid will look after the egg until it hatches and then we can make other arrangements, shall we go?"

They all nodded and left, McGonagall giving the Ministry workers a look of loathing.

Once they were out of the stands Mephisto asked Harry, "Would you like to change your name? It would make things a lot easier if you were travelling across the world and you didn't have people worshipping the ground you walk on..."

"Yeah I'd like that... but to what though... I know my last name would be Faust but what about a first name?..." It was an open question but he still looked at Amaimon specifically when he asked.

"What about Hyuuga?" Shura asked, "Hyuuga Faust dosent sound too bad.."

"Nah, I'd rather not be associated with Byakugan wielding slightly stuck up anime characters" Harry said.

Amaimon, Mephisto and Shura who actually got the reference laughed.

"What about Haru?" Luna said, "I've been learning Japanese and I know it can mean: Spring, sun, sunlight, or Clear up depending on the Kanji used..."

"That would be a good choice because its easy to pronounce and not too far from your original name." Amaimon said nodding his approval.

Harry beamed holding the real egg close to his chest to keep it warm (Amaimon was carrying the golden one) Amaimon's approval was all he needed.

"I'll get the paper work done then Haru" Mephisto said brightly.

Suddenly someone jumped out of the trees in front of them.

**"Its the Effie trinket look-a-like who lied about you!"** Senbonzakura said loudly.

"Harry!" She said brightly, "I was wondering if I could have a word? about how you felt facing the dragon, how you feel now and what you think about the judges scoring"

"You can have a word alright" He said fake cheerfully, as the killing intent rolled off him in waves, _"Sayonara"_

* * *

**Well that's it for this chapter I hoped you enjoyed it!**

**XD**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hello once again!**

**Here's another chapter for you! XD**

**Oh and since its been just under a month since I last updated I thought I'd remind you Harry is now called Haru... I'd forgotten until I reread my last chapter, so I thought just in case better put a note in... **

**Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"English"

"emphasis" **  
**

'thoughts'

_"Japanese"_

**"Demon sword telepathy"**

_**"Demon telepathy"**_

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Chapter 16

The evening of the task Haru, Ron and Hermione were walking up to the Owlery to send Sirius a letter, Amaimon and Rin had decided to go straight to the Griffindor common room instead; Haru suspected that Amaimon felt it was very awkward to have to act like a stranger to someone you knew for over 10 years, after all he'd known Sirius for a long time and yet Sirius didn't know that... he couldn't have known that James (in soul) would live on and come back to visit later on with a different face than the one he's used to... Haru knew that for his father it was hard to act like he didn't know his best friend and Rin knew a lot about Sirius from what Amaimon had told him but he also had to act oblivious as well (and being honest Rin isn't the best liar) to Haru it seemed as if both of them wanted to distance themselves from anything to do with Sirius in case they slipped up and said something they shouldn't.

While these thoughts were spinning through his head Haru filled Ron in on the information they had about Karkaroff and also partially why Draco was being more friendly than usual (he was telling him that he was hanging around with them at any rate) at first Ron was sceptical of the information on the Durmstrang Headmaster but by the time they made it to the Owlery he was positive it was him who put Haru's name in the goblet; Haru couldn't tell if Ron was being serious or if he was just saying that for his benefit... if he was being perfectly honest with himself Haru had lost a lot of trust in Ron, he might had said that he forgave his first-ever friend and he did do, however he couldn't honestly say that it would be exactly the same as before, he did not trust him completely any more and it would take a lot to get that trust back.

Haru was borrowing Pigwideon (Ron's owl) to send Sirius a letter, after all Sirius had said to not use the same Owl just in case, he hadn't been able to resist giving Sirius a blow-by-blow account of his battle with the Dragon (he'd left out speaking to it with Parseltongue though; as that would have been very hard to explain).

When Pigwideon flew off at last he very nearly fell out of the sky with the weight of the letter but he shouldered the weight all the same and eventually flew off towards the darkening sky.

"I think you could win this tournament Harry-Haru... I really think you could do it, I mean it can't be any more dangerous than that dragon can it? speaking of dragons what did you do with the egg?" Ron asked.

"I gave the egg to Hagrid he'll hatch it for me... well... we certainly know he has experience in that field don't we?" Haru replied with a smirk.

Ron and Hermione grinned back at him.

* * *

When they entered the common room it exploded into cheers and yells, the Weasley twins had looted enough food from the kitchens that cakes and junk food covered every flat surface, their friend Lee Jordan had let off some fireworks so that the air was thick with sparks and stars, Dean Thomas who was a budding artist had drawn onto large banners that hung all around the room, many depicted Harry (as they all still knew him as) fighting the dragon with Senbonzakura however some had a snarling wolf on and a few had the dragon's fire meeting his ice spell; Rin looked very impressed with the artwork (Amaimon just rolled his eyes at his younger brothers awestruck expression).

Haru sat down with His father, Uncle and Neville, Ron and Hermione followed after him, as soon as he'd sat down Nai leapt onto his shoulder and perched there whilst he munched on a small piece of cake. Haru had never been a big sweets fan so he settled for some sandwich's instead.

"Blimey this is heavy" Lee Jordan said picking up the golden egg, "Open it Harry! lets see the clue!"

"Yeah open it!" several people echoed.

"He's supposed to work on the clue on his own..." Hermione said uncertainly.

"Yeah well no one will know so it doesn't matter" Rin said confidently.

Haru picked up the egg and prised open the lid. As soon as the lid was prised apart the most horrible noise many of them had ever heard filled the room, it was a screechy wailing and it was so loud... the egg rolled onto the floor as Haru clapped his hands over his ears in an attempt to shut the noise out; his face screwed up in pain, Rin and Amaimon were in similar states, thier sensitive hearing taking a very severe, painful hit.

"SHUT IT!" Rin bellowed.

Neville scrambled for the egg and hurriedly shut the lid.

"WHAT IN ALL OF ASSAIH WAS THAT?" Rin shouted.

"Why are you shouting?" Hermione said slightly alarmed at the furious look on his face.

"WHAT?" Rin replied his ears ringing, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"RIN! SHUT UP AND WAIT A MINUTE WILL YOU!" Amaimon shouted, nursing his sore ears.

Rin shut up, Haru shook his head repeatedly, trying to get the ringing sound to go away, Nai who had fallen off his shoulder in shock was using his long hair to climb back up onto his perch.

Kuro was wailing with his paws over his ears. _**"ITAI!..." **_

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked the three exorcists anxiously.

"I think so..." Haru replied over the light buzzing in his ears, "I don't think I'm opening the egg again though with out ear plugs or something... that was not a pleasant experience"

"What was that?" Amaimon asked, as calmly as he possibly could after nearly being deafened.

"Sounded like a banshee..." Seamus said, "Maybe you have to get past one of those next Harry..."

"The next task probably won't be in the same format as this one... in all likelihood he won't just have to get past something again" Amaimon said still glaring at the egg.

Kuro had at this point climbed into Rin's lap and was curling up, looking at the egg like he would very much enjoy crushing it.

"It sounded like someone being tortured" Neville said, he was very white, "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus curse"

"Don't be a prat Neville, that's illegal" George said "I think it sounded like Percy singing... maybe you have to attack him in the shower, Harry"

"Jam tart Hermione?" Fred asked.

And with that the conversation was over, Harry exchanged looks with Rin and Amaimon, 'How am I supposed to work out the clue if I can't even listen to it?!'

* * *

Haru sighed as they walked away from the kitchens, Hermione had talked Fred and George into telling her where it was and yet when they'd gone down there she'd gotten them kicked out for trying to get the elves to want paying.

"Hermione you should just leave the elves be..." Amaimon said when they'd explained where they had been all lunch, "It's in thier nature to look after humans, and they enjoy doing it"

"But-" she began furiously.

"You're judging them all by the standards of Dobby and Winky, they had bad Masters, that's all there is to it" Rin said calmly.

"You see the problem is, you think that there'll all as badly treated as those two were, which is not the case. Here at Hogwarts the house elves are well treated and if any want paying they will be paid, as Dobby said, Hogwarts is a safe haven for house elves that's why there are so many of them... you should instead focus on getting abused elves better treatment, raising awareness to those being badly treated, they don't want to be free and they like working for humans... they don't want freedom in any way shape or form." Amaimon said.

"Why don't instead of wasting your time trying to free creatures that don't want to be free you work on raising peoples opinion of house elves and getting them better treated by people like the Malfoy's who think that house elves should have less rights than them?" Rin pointed out without looking up from the manga he was reading.

Hermione just stood there spluttering for a while until she sat down with a huff.

* * *

"Potter, Weasley, Okumura!" McGonagall snapped, "Will you pay attention?!"

It was the end of Transfiguration and Haru, Ron and Rin had been having a sword fight with some of the Twins fake wands, they looked up sheepishly. Amaimon smirked at them, Rin kicked him under the table and cursed under his breath when Amaimon kicked him back a lot harder.

"Now that those three have decided to act their age" McGonagall said disapprovingly, "I have something to say to you all... the Yule ball is approaching- it is a traditional part of the tournament and an opportunity to socialise with our foreign guests. The ball is open to Fourth year students and above; but you may invite a younger student if you so wish-"

Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle, which had Parvati Patil nudging her in the ribs even though she was fighting the urge to giggle as well, they both looked around at Haru and giggled more. Amaimon and Rin chuckled softly at the embarassed look on Haru's face.

"Dress robes or other Formal wear shall be worn," McGonagall continued, "the Ball will start at 8 on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall"

She stared around at the class, "Now the Yule ball is a chance for us all to... er... let our hair down" She added in a disapproving voice.

Lavender giggled harder than ever but this time it was at least obvious what was funny, McGonagall looked as if she'd never let her hair down in her life (Literally or Figuratively).

"But that does not mean" Professor McGonagall continued, "That we will be relaxing the standards of behaviour that we expect from you. I will be seriously displeased If a Griffindor student embarrasses the school in any way"

Just then the bell rang, over the usual clamour Professor McGonagall called, "Potter a word if you please"

He made his way through the other students and stood in front of her desk, she waited until the rest of the class had left before saying, "Potter the Champions and thier Partners-"

"Partners?" He repeated in a small voice.

She looked suspiciously at him, trying to work out if he was attempting to be funny or not, evidently she decided his confusion was genuine as she elaborated. "Your Partners for the Ball... your dance Partners"

"Dance partners?" He muttered in an even smaller voice. "I don't know how to dance..."

"Well you had best learn Potter, Because the Champions and their partners open the Ball, and as a representative of the school make sure you get yourself a partner."

* * *

He sat down at the Griffindor table in the Great hall bright red in the face.

"What's up with you?" Rin asked.

So he told them all about the conversation with McGonagall.

"Bad luck kiddo" Rin said Sympathetically, "I'm not going, I think Shiemi would kill me- not that I'd go with any one else anyway"

"I'm not going either... not really my thing" Amaimon said.

"Who's Shiemi?" Hermione asked curiously.

"His Girlfriend" Amaimon said carelessly.

Rin blushed lightly and rubbed the back of his head.

"I have a problem guys... I can't dance..." Harry said dejectedly.

"Ask Shura to teach you" said Amaimon casually, "She definitely knows how to dance, probably as well as she knows how to use a sword, she'll tease you relentlessly but she's always done that with everything."

"Yeah good idea" Rin agreed, "She definitely knows what she's doing"

"I'll ask when Lunch has ended..." Haru muttered with the air of someone walking to their death, "I'm never going to live this down..."

The other laughed at him.

"So who are you going to ask?" Amaimon asked with a sly smirk.

"Yeah Who's the lucky lady?" Rin asked matching his older brothers expression.

"N-None of your business" Haru stammered beet red, he knew exactly who he wanted to ask it was more about plucking up the courage to do so.

Amaimon and Rin exchanged knowing smirks when Haru wasn't looking; they knew exactly who he wanted to ask.

* * *

Lunch ended all too soon for Haru and he got up slowly as the bell rang, "See you in class" He muttered to the others.

'Lets just get this over with...' he thought as he hurried toward Shura was getting up from the staff table.

_"Konnichiwa Haru!" _she said brightly.

_"Hi Shura sensei... can I ask a favour?"_

_"Sure Gaki, what ails ya?" _

_"Because I'm a champion I'm being forced to open the Yule ball... and the problem is... I can't dance" _He muttered, a light blush adorning his face_ "I was wondering if you could teach me..." _

Shura laughed loudly,_ "Sure no problem Gaki, I'll teach ya... we can start tonight" _she said with a smirk.

_"Arigato"_ he said before hurrying off to class.

* * *

A week ago he would have said that asking a girl to a Ball would be easier than facing that dragon but now he disagreed. He had not been able to work up the courage to ask Luna to the Ball but he knew he had to hurry up encase someone else asked her first, it was hard anyway because he didn't see her all that often and he was reluctant to ask at lunch or dinner in front of everyone else but it was looking like he wouldn't have any other choice at this point.

He'd solved one problem though, Shura was definitely teaching him to dance (she was teaching him a variety of Dances actually) but the way she went on he was performing for the queen instead of just dancing with his peers, she'd even brought a bokken with her so that every time he messed up a step or had his posture wrong she'd whack him with it in the offending area, so he left his dancing classes more often than not with bruises on his legs and ankles which Shura complained were never placed where they should be. He never complained about it though he was used to Shura by now.

It was the last week of term before he'd worked up the courage to ask Luna to the ball, it was Monday, at Lunch and he was sat with the others when he saw Luna come in and sit with the other Ravenclaws, before opening a book.

"Screw it... I'm just going to have to do it" he muttered getting up.

Ron, Hermione and Neville looked curiously up at him but he offered no explanation as he walked off. He reached the Ravenclaw table more quickly than he would have liked; Luna was sat slightly apart from the others as usual. He sat down in front of her; ignoring the other Ravenclaws curious expressions.

As he sat down she looked up from her book.

"Hello Haru" she said, looking at him with her misty eyes, her usual dreamy expression apparent on her face, "Are the Whackspurts bothering you? you seem preoccupied..."

"No its not whackspurts..." he muttered, "Luna I was wondering... do you have a partner for the Yule Ball?"

She blinked her large eyes at him and tucked her hair behind her ears before she answered, "No"

Haru breathed a sigh of relief, causing Luna to look at him curiously. "Luna do you want to go to the ball with me?" He asked quite fast.

Her face lit up with a smile, her eyes were bright and she sounded quite ecstatic when she replied, "I'd love too"

"Great!"

"Shall I meet you down in the entrance hall on the day then?" Luna asked.

"Yeah sounds good... _Ja ne_ Luna" he said getting up, he had a large grin on his a face.

"See you" She said brightly.

He hurried back to the Griffindor Table where he sat down with a very relieved sigh.

"Did she say yes?" Hermione asked urgently, having guessed exactly what he went over there for.

He nodded.

She giggled before saying, "Thats great!" she said.

"see Ron you need to follow Harry's example and just ask someone!" she added to thier red haired friend.

Ron turned bright red but didn't say anything.

* * *

The Hogwarts staff it seemed were determined to impress their foreign guests as the Christmas decorations this year were the best they ever had, there were everlasting icicles attached to the bannisters and the usual 12 Christmas trees were decorated marvellously, they'd even taught the armoured suits to sing Christmas carols (which personally Rin and Yukio thought was a waste of Magic).

He was on his way up to the common room with Amaimon and Rin, it wasn't late but it had been going dark outside so they'd put a halt to thier training and decided to go inside. Earlier on they'd been to visit Hagrid and according to him the dragon egg should hatch sometime around the second task, 'Great something else to worry about..' Harry had thought, he'd made no progress with the golden egg at all, he'd borrowed some ear muffs to block out a lot of the sound but he still couldn't hear any sort of clue about what the next task was.

"Fairy lights" They said to the Fat Lady.

"Yes indeed" she said giggly, as she straightened the tinsel in her hair.

The portrait swung open and they climbed through the portrait hole.

Once inside he spotted Ron sitting ashen faced in the corner of the common room. They made their way over to him.

"What's up Ron?" Haru asked.

Ron looked up at Haru, a sort of blind horror in his face, "Why did I do it?" he said wildly. "I don't know what made me do it!

"Do what?" asked Rin.

"He... er... just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," answered Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically.

"You what?' said Haru incredulously.

"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gasped again, "What was I playing at? There were people... all around... I've gone mad... everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall... she was standing there talking to Diggory... and it sort of came over me... and I asked her!" Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking, though the words were barely distinguishable, "She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then... I dunno... I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."

"She's part Veela," said Haru. "You were right... her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the charm for Diggory and got a blast of it. I don't think you'd have asked otherwise..."

This situation vividly reminded Haru of the conversation Ron had with Hermione earlier in the week.

**Flash back start**

"So... you lot got dates for the ball yet?" Fred and George asked.

"Nope" said Ron quite dejectedly, "Harry has though... he's going with Luna Lovegood, she's a third year Ravenclaw"

"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.

"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron angrily.

"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.

"What?" said Ron, taken aback, "You've already asked her then?"

"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi! Angelina!"

Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him. "What?" she called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look, "All right then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

"There you go," Fred said to Ron, "piece of cake" He got to his feet, yawning, and soon he and George left.

"I think I should get a move on, you know... ask someone. They're right. I don't want to end up with a troll."

Hermione let out a sputter of indignation. "A... what, excuse me?"

"Well... you know," said Ron, shrugging "I'd rather go alone than with... with say... Eloise Midgen" Haru was gesticulating to Ron to shut up behind Hermione's back but he was ignored.

"Her acne's loads better lately and she's really nice!" Hermione said angrily.

"Her nose is off-centre," said Ron, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh I see," Hermione said, bristling, "So basically, you're going to take the best-looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"

"Er... yeah, that sounds about right," said Ron. Harry, Rin and Amaimon face palmed.

"I'm going to bed," Hermione snapped, and she swept off toward the girls' staircase without another word.

**Flash back end**

'This is why his father told him never go for looks alone at the Quidditch world cup...' he thought with a sigh.

Harry watched the following argument with Ron and Hermione distractedly, to be perfectly honest he'd been anticipating this for a while. He jumped back into the conversation when Hermione said:

"I already told you! I'm going with someone else!" she snapped angrily before storming up the stairs.

"She's lying!" Ron said confidently.

"She's not" Ginny and Haru said quietly.

"Who's she going with then?" Ron asked them sharply.

"Not our place to say..." Haru said, "Its her business if she tells anyone or not..."

Hermione had come to ask him if he minded that she was going with his opposition, and he'd promptly told her he couldn't care less.

Lavender and Parvati had just walked through the portrait hole chatting.

Rin nudged Ron, "Go ask Parvati... Go on... you'll end up going solo at this rate..."

Ron spluttered until Haru yanked him out of his seat by the back of his collar. "Go ask her!"

Ron staggered forward until he was in front of Parvati.

"Will you go to the ball with me?" he asked in a high pitched voice, his face the same shade of red as his hair.

Parvati burst into giggles and Ron had to wait for them to subside before she said, "Yes, all right then"

* * *

They had been given a lot of work over the holiday's but no one was in the mood for work when term had ended, all people would talk about was the Yule Ball, snow was falling thick and fast by then, and the lake froze over completely. The house elves were outdoing themselves with warm, rich food to keep them warm through the Scottish winter, only Fleur Delacour had anything to complain about: "It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food," they heard her saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her one evening "I will not fit into my dress robes!"

Their growing circle of friends had taken to converging on the Griffindor table for lunch and dinner, now that term was over they couldn't care less about what the other houses thought, Yukio and Draco would come over from the Slytherin table and Luna would walk over from the Ravenclaw table and they would sit with Amaimon, Rin, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Haru; at their table. They were a very odd group, especially when Shura, Angel, Lightning and Mephisto would sometimes join them. Neville, Draco and Luna were very interested in the exorcists and would often ask questions about what thier work was like, what the requirements were and things like that, the certified exorcists were extremely indulgent with these questions- the True Cross Order always needed more exorcists; they were always understaffed.

Haru woke suddenly on Christmas morning wondering what had woke him up, he felt a weight on the foot of his bed. Without giving any indication he was awake he reached his hand under his pillow for his hand gun, he wrapped his hand around the handle and put his finger on the trigger.

He whipped the gun out jolting straight up as he did so, and he found himself pointing his hand gun straight between the eyes of Dobby the house-elf.

"Dobby?!" he said incredulously.

He flopped back onto his bed, saying exasperatedly, "I don't mind you visiting me Dobby but please wake me up first... I could have shot you..."

Nai who had been roughly thrown from his place on Haru's pillow, grumbled loudly.

"Someone attacking you, Harry?" Seamus said sleepily.

"No, its just Dobby the house-elf, feel free to go back to sleep..." Haru muttered sitting back up and pulling back the curtains around his four poster bed, his long green hair spilling over his shoulders.

"Nah... Presents!" Seamus said excitedly, spotting the large pile at the foot of his bed. Ron, Dean, and Neville decided that now they were awake they might as well get some present opening done too. Rin and Amaimon had just woke up and tried groggily to get up, Amaimon had more success than Rin who managed to fall out of bed in the process.

Haru turned back to Dobby, who was now standing nervously next to Haru's bed, still looking worried that he had upset him. There was a Christmas bauble tied to the loop on top of his tea cosy.

"Can Dobby give Harry Potter his present?" he squeaked tentatively.

"Course you can" said Haru, "Er... I've got something for you too."

It was a lie however; he hadn't bought anything for Dobby at all because he'd forgotten, but he quickly opened his trunk and pulled out a pair of socks; they were bright yellow and for the life of him he couldn't remember buying them. He handed the socks to Dobby saying: "Sorry, I forgot to wrap them..."

But Dobby was utterly delighted "Socks are Dobby's favourite, favourite clothes, sir!" he said, ripping off his old ones and pulling on the yellow ones. "I has seven now, sir... But sir..." he said, his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, "they has made a mistake in the shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!"

"Ah, no, Haru, how come you didn't spot that?" said Ron, grinning over from his own bed, which was now strewn with wrapping paper "Tell you what, Dobby... here you go... take these two, and you can mix them up properly... and here's your sweater."

He threw Dobby a pair of violet socks he had just unwrapped, and the hand-knitted sweater Mrs Weasley had sent, Dobby looked quite overwhelmed "Sir is very kind!" he squeaked, his eyes brimming with tears again, bowing deeply to Ron. "Dobby knew sir must be a great wizard, for he is one of Harry Potter's greatest friends, but Dobby did not know that he was also as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless-"

"They're only socks" said Ron, who had gone slightly pink around the ears, though he looked rather pleased all the same, Rin and Amaimon were laughing silently in the background. "Wow, Haru-" He had just opened Harry's present- a Chudley Cannon hat, "Cool!" He jammed it onto his head, where it clashed horribly with his hair.

Dobby now handed Haru a small package, which turned out to be socks "Dobby is making them himself, sir!" the elf said happily "He is buying the wool out of his wages, sir!"

The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches, _"Arigato_ Dobby" said Haru, and he pulled them on, causing Dobby's eyes to leak with happiness again.

"Dobby must go now sir, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens!" said Dobby, and he hurried out of the dormitory, waving good-bye to Ron and the others as he passed.

Haru's other presents were much more satisfactory than Dobby's odd socks: Hermione had given him a book; called Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland, Ron a bulging bag of Dungbombs; which he vowed silently to get rid of as soon as it was polite because he could not stand the smell, Sirius gave him a handy penknife; with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot, Hagrid bought him a vast box of sweets; including his favourite chocolate frogs, Rin and Yukio had gotten him a practical tanto dagger; which had elegant teal wrappings on the handle, Amaimon had gotten him several books on many different martial arts styles, Mephisto had bought him several books on dragon rearing and Shura had given him several scrolls containing information on shinobi techniques (which he suspected were family heirlooms) and for a joke she'd also bought him dog biscuits.

There was also, of course, Mrs Weasley's usual package, including a new sweater (green, with a picture of a dragon on it... Harry supposed Charlie had told her all about the Horntail) and a large quantity of home-made mince pies.

* * *

They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione and Luna chose to watch Haru's, Draco's, Neville's, the Okumura's and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in, and at five o'clock they said they were going back upstairs to get ready for the ball.

"What? you need three hours?" said Ron, looking at them incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, hit him hard on the side of the head. "Who're you going with?" he yelled after Hermione, but she just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle closely followed by Luna.

At seven o'clock, when it had become hard to aim properly, the others abandoned their snowball fight and trooped back inside.

The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely tipsy, empty boxes of chocolate liqueurs littering the bottom of the picture. "Lairy fights, that's the one!" she giggled when they gave the password, and she swung forward to let them inside.

Haru, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville changed into their dress robes up in their dormitory, all of them looking very self-conscious. Ron was also looking very pleased that Haru had given him his dress robes because he didn't look too bad in the bottle green dress robes; in fact he had better robes than most of the others. Rin and Amaimon were just lounging on their beds chatting tiredly.

Haru was wearing Japanese formal wear that Mephisto had bought him. The outfit consisted of black Hakama with a dark emerald green Kurosode; tied with a black Obi, over the top of that he had a sleeveless white Haori that was lined with teal and edged in gold; it also had teal diamonds stitched around the bottom of the Haori. It didn't look bad; in fact the outfit was well fitting and suited him, his only complaint to Amaimon and Rin was that he would be very out of place compared to everyone else.

"You won't look out of place because Yukio, Angel and Lightning might be abstaining from going (like we are) but Shura and Mephisto are both going" Rin assured him, "Besides its the wizards fault for being well behind the rest of the world isn't it?" he added rhetorically.

"And after all it only really matters what Luna thinks you look like..." Amaimon put in, causing Haru to burn bright red as he tied his long hair into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck.

"Ah... going for an Itachi Uchiha look over a Deidara sort of look then?" Rin asked with a smirk. Nai giggled.

_"Urusai..." _Haru muttered embarrassedly.

As they walked down into the common room it looked very strange as everyone was wearing different colours than the usual black, red and grey.

Parvati was waiting for Ron at the bottom of the stairs, wearing robes of shocking pink with her long hair braided with gold.

"You... er... look nice..." Ron said awkwardly.

"Thanks" Parvati said, "Do you want to go down?"

"Yeah... sure..." Ron said looking around the room; Haru was positive he was looking for Hermione.

They all walked down into the great hall together; It was packed with people milling around waiting to be let into the great hall, lots of people were waiting for partners from other houses so Haru didn't look out of place with no partner, he simply went over and stood leaning against the wall.

A group of Slytherins were soon seen walking up from the dungeons; Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott in the lead. Draco was trailing along behind them accompanied by a Slytherin girl Haru knew by name alone. It was Daphne Greengrass, Haru knew she didn't hang around with Pansy Parkinson or her gaggle of Slytherin girls a lot and was in the same Arithmancy class he was, in fact she usually sat next to Hermione.

The pair of them made thier way over to where Haru, Ron and Parvati were stood.

Draco was wearing dark green dress robes with a high collar, whereas Daphne had chosen to wear turquoise and silver robes.

"Hello" Draco said, "No sign of Luna yet then?"

"Not yet... Hello Daphne"

"Hello Harry... have you seen Hermione? I wanted to ask her about the Arithmancy homework..."

"No sign of her yet either"

She nodded and they stood in a comfortable silence, soon Neville and Ginny came over and stood with them; Ginny casting slightly suspicious looks at the two Slytherins.

The oak front doors opened suddenly and the Durmstrang students entered, led by Viktor Krum and Hermione.

"There's Hermione now..." Haru said, causing the others jaws to drop.

"That's Granger?..."

"Yeah... looks pretty different doesn't she?"

"You think?" Draco said sarcastically.

Haru turned away from the open doors now shedding light onto the magnificent gardens outside and looked up at the marble staircase leading down from the upper floors.

His mouth fell open slightly when he spotted who was walking down the steps in front of Shura-sensei, it was Luna; also looking very different than she usually did. Maybe it was the absence of the necklace of butter-beer corks around her neck or the lack of radish earrings but she looked incredibly different.

She was wearing a gorgeous black _furisode Kimono _with long sleeves that came down to her knees- it was decorated with large bright blue, white and turquoise flowers with elegant purple butterflies that were all swirling across it as if caught in a spring breeze, as she walked closer (oblivious to the attention she was beginning to garner) he could see that the kimono wasn't pure black; in places there were thick spiralling pale blue and silver patterns that would blend seamlessly into the black like clouds on a dark night. It was completed with a pale green thick _Obi_ around her waist, with turquoise and gold accents in the pattern of bamboo- it was tied into the traditional _Darari (Maru) Obi_ style so that it had two long silk strips hanging down her back; to finish off the _Obi_ there was a cord (_Obijime_) tied traditionally around the front made of twisted string in shades of eggplant and violet.

Her waist length, pale blonde hair had been twisted into a complicated but elegant knot at the back of her head completed with traditional_ Kanzashi_ sticks to hold the hair in place.

She reached the bottom of the steps and spotted him immediately, she started heading thier way instantly, it almost looked as if she was gliding towards him, he noticed that she had abstained from wearing high heels like a lot of girls had chosen to wear and instead had put on simple blue ballet pumps.

"Hello Haru!" She said brightly upon reaching them, "It appears as if the Nargles have stolen my dress robes... I don't mind though because Shura-sensei was kind enough to give me this..." She gestured to the Kimono, "its rather heavy and I had to have her help putting it on though..."

Haru picked his jaw up from where he'd dropped it and said, "You look fantastic Luna..."

"Thank you very much" She said her smile lighting up her misty grey eyes.

The others were staring at her as well as if they couldn't believe their eyes, but were broken from their revere when Professor McGonagall called, "Champions! champions over here please!"

"Ja ne!" Haru said to the others as he lead Luna over to McGonagall.

McGonagall; who was wearing dress robes in a red tartan pattern and had arranged thistles around her hat, instructed them to wait on either side of the doors as everyone else went inside and then come in procession when everyone else was sat down. Fleur Delacour was stood nearest to the doors with Ravenclaw Quidditch captain Rodger Davies, Cedric Diggory was also stood nearby with Cho Chang, who was wearing a traditional Chinese dress, Cho was staring awestruck at Luna as if she simply couldn't believe her eyes.

Haru turned to Hermione who was stood nearby with Krum, "You look great Hermione"

"Thanks Haru! the both of you look fantastic!" She replied.

When the doors of the great hall swept open, Krum's fan-club strode past giving Hermione looks of deepest loathing, Pansy Parkinson just stared open mouthed as she walked past with Theodore Nott, Ron walked past without even looking at her.

"Oh dear, Ronald doesn't seem happy does he?" Luna said less dreamily than usual.

"No he doesn't... and I don't think its the whackspurts afflicting him..." Haru said darkly.

"I quite agree... whackspurts don't cause jealousy"

Mephisto walked past soon after in a pale blue_ yukata_ with Shura on his arm; she was wearing an elegant purple flowered kimono with a red _Obi_.

Once everyone was settled into the hall, Professor McGonagall told them to line up in pairs and follow her up to the front of the hall. They did so, and everyone in the hall clapped and cheered as they made their way to the front.

"You might want to be careful Haru! Nargles have a preference of infesting Mistletoe, and I can see quite a lot of it in here" Luna pointed out as they were nearing the round table where the Judges, Mephisto and Shura were sat.

"We'll have to be careful then" Haru said cheerfully.

Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff narrowed his eyes as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely, but Mr Crouch, Haru suddenly realized, was not there. The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley.

When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Haru. Haru took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Haru thought it ought to be illegal.

Shura and Mephisto were situated on the other side of Luna and Haru, Mephisto winked at them as they sat down whilst Shura smirked and waved.

"I've been promoted" Percy said before Haru could even ask, and from his tone, he might have been announcing that he was _Kami-sama_. "I'm now Mr Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."

"Why didn't he come himself?" Luna asked curiously, tilting her head slightly.

"I'm afraid to say Mr Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising... overwork. He's not as young as he was, still quite brilliant of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehaviour of that house-elf of his, Blinky, or whatever she was called. Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterwards, but... well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left... And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with, poor man, he's having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."

Haru wanted to ask whether Crouch had stopped calling Percy "Weatherby" yet, but managed to resist the temptation.

There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Luna looked at her's confusedly. Dumbledore however looked carefully down at his menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!" And pork chops appeared.

Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too. Haru selected _Ramen_ and Luna looked at the noodle soup curiously before placing the same order.

Haru glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt about this new and more complicated method of dining as surely it meant plenty of extra work for the house-elves? but for once, Hermione didn't seem to be thinking about S.P.E.W. She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating.

"I didn't know that the house elves knew how to make anything like this" Luna said as she abandoned her chopsticks in favour of the nearby fork, it seemed safer- especially in her Kimono; she was holding back the sleeve with her other hand as it was.

"They've been taking some lessons from Ukobach" Mephisto said.

"Ukobach?" Luna asked him bewildered.

"He's this cute little demon cook familiar" Haru explained, "He's great, you should meet him sometime"

"he sounds amazing!... Hermione certainly seems to be enjoying her talk with Viktor Krum doesn't she?" Luna said inclining her head towards the two.

"_Hai.._." Haru replied chuckling.

It now occurred to Haru that he had never actually heard Krum speak before, but he was certainly talking now, and very enthusiastically at that.

"Vel, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," he was telling Hermione "Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these... though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains-"

"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his eyes "don't go giving away anything else or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"

"The Durmstrang Headmaster doesn't seem very friendly does he?" Luna said quite loudly, and some would say fearlessly. Mephisto chuckled openly, whilst Shura tried to stop herself laughing.

"No he doesn't" Haru agreed seriously. Shura lost her battle and burst out laughing at the look on Karkaroff's face.

"Well said _Gaki!_" She managed to choke out.

"_Urusai_ _shishou! boku wa gaki janai!" _He said; pouting slightly.

Shura leaned over Mephisto and Luna, and said "Sure ya not" as she patted him on the head condescendingly.

A vein throbbed in his forehead as he swatted her hand away.

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling, and said; as if he hadn't heard the others say anything, "Igor... all this secrecy... one would almost think you didn't want visitors"

"Well... Dumbledore" said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"

"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets" said Dumbledore amicably "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished... but I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon... or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."

Haru snorted at the same time Mephisto did, Shura just cackled. Percy frowned at the conversation, but Harry could have sworn Dumbledore had given him a very small wink.

Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies "Zis is nothing," she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall "At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Christmas. Zey do not melt, of course... zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is simply superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat. We 'ave none of zis ugly armour in ze 'alls, and if a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat." She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently.

Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Haru and Luna had the impression that Davies was too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was saying.

"Absolutely right" he said quickly, slapping his own hand down on the table in imitation of Fleur "Like that... Yeah"

"I think the Whackspurts have invaded his brain" Luna whispered to Haru discreetly.

"Yeah he seems very out of it doesn't he?" Haru whispered back.

Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her "Hermy-own," which kept making Shura laugh.

"Her-my-oh-nee" she said slowly and clearly.

"Herm-own-ninny" he said back promptly.

"Close enough," she said, catching Haru's and Luna's eye and grinning.

When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall.

The "Weird Sisters" now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Haru, who had been so interested in watching them that he had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up.

He felt something whack him hard across the thigh, he winced, it was Shura, she had actually brought a _bokken_ with her, she pointed it at him threateningly, "Don't disappoint me Kiddo" she said with a sadistic smirk.

Suddenly feeling much more pressured he quickly offered Luna his hand. She took his hand with a small smile and allowed him to lead her after the other champions and onto the dance floor.

The "Weird sisters" struck up a slow mournful tune and he took a deep breath, ignoring Shura glowering at him from the sidelines and Seamus and Dean laughing at him, and led Luna in a waltz.

The others all looked quite surprised he could dance so well, as he expertly lead Luna around the dance floor, soon enough everyone else were converging onto the dance floor. He saw Ginny dance past with Neville and evidently he was treading on her feet as she kept wincing, Dumbledore was Waltzing with Madame Maxime and was completely dwarfed by her, Professor Moody was attempting the two step with professor Sinistra and then Mephisto danced past leading Shura; as they passed she whacked him on the shoulder (thankfully with her hand and not a practice sword) and told him "Not bad, you actually do pay attention when I teach ya somethin' but ya still slouch_ Gaki._"

"I think you dance very well Haru" Luna said causing him to turn bright red.

Shura laughed as Mephisto led her off with a smirk on his face.

Haru heard the last quivering note of the song and then the Weird sisters stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more.

Soon enough though they struck up a new faster song.

"Want to keep going?" He asked Luna.

"Sure, I don't usually like dancing but I'm quite enjoying this!" she replied enthusiastically.

He smiled as he lead her into another dance.

* * *

A couple of dances later and Haru lead the way off the dance floor, some long strands of hair had escaped Luna's bun and her face was pink, Haru didn't envy her in all those layers of silk, she must have been boiling.

They spotted a table with quite a few of thier friends sat around it and walked over to them. They sat down with Draco, Daphne, Neville and Ginny were all sat around the table.

"Hello!" Luna said brightly as she sat down.

"Hello" the others chorused.

"Did you see Grange-Hermione's argument with Weasley earlier?" Draco asked him.

"No..." Haru said bewildered, "What are they arguing about this time?"

"Apparently he thinks that she's 'Fraternizing with the enemy' by going to the ball with Krum" Daphne said, "We were dancing near the edge of the dance floor and spotted them... it was hard to ignore really..."

Haru whacked his head onto the table, "That's completely ridiculous..." he muttered.

"I don't think that's really the issue..." Luna said as she looked up at the ceiling, "More than likely he's jealous... but he can be a bit unkind sometimes I've noticed"

Haru lifter his head up as he heard footsteps hurrying towards them, it was Ron, he sincerely hopped he hadn't heard them talking about him.

"Harry-Haru, guys, I've got something important to tell you... I was outside; getting some fresh air, when I heard-" he whispered as he sat down.

They all leaned forward slightly as he began talking about what he heard Karkaroff and Snape saying and then what he overheard with Madame Maxime and Hagrid.

"Half-giant..." Daphne repeated faintly, "He didn't say it loudly did he?"

"No... I wouldn't have heard if I wasn't hiding from Fleur Delacour..."

"What's so bad about being Half-giant?" Haru asked quietly.

"Giants are supposed to be very vicious, dark creatures" Draco explained, "There are no more in Britain because they're going extinct, loads got themselves killed by auror's in the last war and they were always killing each other... they have a very bad reputation"

"Hagrid's all right though" Haru said quite defensively.

"Yeah his only issue is he thinks we're all as strong as he is and can handle things like the skrewts which is a bit of an overstatement" Daphne said sighing, "He's all right though and really nice if you know him... however other people would say he was vicious and shouldn't be teaching children... that's only because they don't know him though..."

"A lot of people in Ravenclaw think he's a bit of a joke... but he is very nice we all know that" Luna said.

"He just better hope it doesn't get out... I lot of people and I mean a hell of a lot of people won't like it..." Draco said ominously.

* * *

Soon it was midnight and the "Weird Sisters" finished thier last song to tremulous applause, they had stayed talking the rest of the night, and got up after the applause ended; heading back out into the entrance Hall.

"I had a great time tonight Haru, Thank you very much for inviting me!" Luna said brightly, before she gave him a hug and hurried up the stairs towards the Ravenclaw common room.

"Ja ne" Haru said faintly to her retreating back.

"See ya!" Daphne and Draco called on thier way down to the Slytherin common room.

Neville, Ginny, Ron and Haru were all making thier way up the stairs when Haru heard a voice calling him back.

"Harry! wait a minute!"

It was Cedric Diggory. Haru could see Cho waiting for him in the entrance hall below.

"Yeah?" said Harry, "What's up?" as Cedric ran up the stairs toward him.

Cedric looked as though he didn't want to say whatever it was in front of the others, who shrugged and continued to climb the stairs.

"Listen..." Cedric lowered his voice as they disappeared "I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?"

"Yeah," Haru said, "Damn near deafened me when I first opened it..."

"Well... take a bath, okay?" Cedric said.

"_Nani?_" Haru said completely bewildered.

"Take a bath... and... er... take the egg with you, and... er... just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think. Trust me."

Haru just stared at him, now seriously wondering if the whackspurts had gotten Cedric too.

"Tell you what" Cedric said, "use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh.' Gotta go... want to say good night-"

He grinned at Haru again and hurried back down the stairs to Cho.

Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower alone. That had been extremely strange advice.

'Why would a bath help him to work out what the wailing egg meant?'

The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole. Haru had to yell "Fairy lights!" before he woke them up, and when he did, they were extremely irritated. He climbed into the common room and found Ron and Hermione having a blazing row. Standing ten feet apart, they were bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the face.

"Well... if you don't like it! you know what the solution is... don't you?" yelled Hermione her face was screwed up in anger.

"Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back "What's that?"

"Next time there's a ball... ask me before someone else does! And not as a last resort!"

Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls' staircase to bed. Ron turned to look at Haru.

"Well..." he sputtered, looking thunderstruck "well... that just proves... completely missed the point..."

Haru didn't say anything. But smacked him around the back of the head as he walked past to the Boys dormitory's, "I think she's hit the nail right on the head... _Baka..."_

And without saying anything else he walked straight up the stairs leaving Ron to ponder the meaning of what he said.

* * *

**Well that's it for another chapter!**

**Ja ne!**

**XD**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hey guys! **

**Back once again with a new chapter, I hope you like it!**

**XD**

* * *

"English"

"emphasis" **  
**

'thoughts'

_"Japanese"_

**"Demon sword telepathy"**

_**"Demon telepathy"**_

* * *

Chapter 17

Harry carried on walking up the stairs, leaving Ron in the common room. When he reached his room he found Amaimon and Rin still awake.

"How'd it go?" Rin asked eloquently.

"Great... fantastic in fact... however Diggory has just given me a very strange piece of advice..." Harry said looking perplexed, "He said I should take a bath with the egg..."

"He said... you should take a bath with the egg?" Rin repeated slowly, completely bewildered.

"Yeah... and when I evidently didn't understand what he was trying to get me to do he said I should use the prefects bathroom on the fourth floor... gave me the password and everything..."

"You should follow his advice, he owes you for the dragons, so I doubt he would deliberately try to waste your time." Amaimon said wisely.

"Yeah I think I will when school starts again, I thoroughly want to enjoy my holidays"

"Fair enough" Amaimon said with a laugh.

* * *

They all woke up late on boxing day, the conversation in the common room was quiet and punctuated with yawns. Ron and Hermione seemed to have an unspoken agreement not to talk about their argument and appeared to be quite friendly however they were oddly formal. The three exorcists just rolled their eyes and sighed exasperatedly at them.

Their growing group of friends, which had now expanded once more; to include Daphne Greengrass, met frequently in the library to track steadily through their massive piles of homework. Due to the size of their group (that now had 10 people in it) they pushed a group of square tables together and squashed around them piling books, scrolls, parchment and quills onto the tables; as they creaked under the weight of it. It certainly made homework much easier with so many people working on it and it was another excuse to spend more time together.

Snow was still thick upon the grounds when school started once more, As they walked down the grounds to Hagrid's cabin they were dreading the skrewts and Haru's mind was firmly set on trying out Cedric's clue that night (as encouraged by his father and Rin) however upon reaching the cabin he was shocked out of his thoughts when it was not Hagrid who greeted them but an old witch with close cropped hair.

"Hurry up now the bell rang five minutes ago!" she snapped at them.

"Who are you?" Ron asked, "Where's Hagrid?"

"My name is professor Grubby-Plank, I am your temporary care of magical creatures teacher"

"Where's Hagrid?" Rin repeated loudly.

"He is indisposed" She said briskly.

"Care to elaborate on indisposed? is he ill? or injured?" Amaimon snapped.

She ignored them, and the others soon noticed soft laughter from behind them. The Slytherins had arrived and none looked surprised to not see Hagrid in fact most looked gleeful.

Draco and Daphne weaved their way around the other Slytherins to the golden trio and and the exorcists.

"We'll tell you later" Draco said, with a significant look at Grubby-Plank.

The new professor lead them around the outside of of the paddock where the red eyed, winged Abraxan horses where grazing and to the edge of the forest where a magnificent unicorn was tethered.

"Ooooh" the girls and some of the boys cooed.

"Boys keep back!" Grubby-Plank instructed, "They prefer a womens touch Unicorns, Girls to the front, approach with care!"

As soon as she was out of hearing range, Haru and the others turned expectantly to Draco.

Wordlessly Draco handed a page of newsprint over to them. Haru read through the page with the others leaning over his shoulders.

**DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE**

**Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.**

**Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore.**

**Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates.**

**An alarmingly large and ferocious looking man, Hagrid has been using his new found authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures.**

**While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening."**

**"A student was attacked by a Hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm" says Theodore Nott, a fourth-year student "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything."**

**Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous cross breeds between manti-cores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions.**

**"I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject.**

**As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not, as he has always pretended, a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror.**

**While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.**

**In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power, thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend, but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants.**

"Missing your large friend, Potter?" Theodore Nott's grating voice sounded from behind them.

Haru crushed the paper in his hand and glared darkly at him, "What did you mean by we all 'hate Hagrid'? so you're suddenly the school spokesperson are you?" He snapped.

"And what's this rubbish about him-" Rin pointed at Crabbe "-Getting a bad bite off a flobberworm... They don't have teeth!" Rin said angrily. Personally the whole Half-Giant prejudice reminded him of what he used to get for being a son of Satan and he didn't like it one bit.

Amaimon suddenly chuckled darkly, making all the others heads swivel towards him, "There are much worse things in this world than a mere Half-Giant" he said with a wicked, knowing smirk decorating his face.

Most of the Slytherins shrank back from him slightly, Whilst Harry muttered, "_Yeah and a prime example of that is stood right there..." _Nai who had been sat in his pocket burst into fits of high pitched giggles.

"Are you paying attention over there?" Grubby-Plank's voice echoed suddenly from over by the Unicorn.

* * *

Haru was still pre-occupied with worrying about Hagrid all through dinner which was spent sitting with the others in silence. He even forgot about the egg until Amaimon dragged him out of his bed at 12 that night.

"What?" he muttered tiredly.

"The egg, _Baka!" _Amaimon whispered.

_"Shimatta!"_ he cursed quietly.

He silently grabbed his invisibility cloak and Map and crept downstairs with a whispered thanks to his father.

* * *

Rin opened the portrait hole for him on the other side, and Harry slipped away into the dark corridors as Rin whispered "_Good luck_".

It was quite awkward moving around under the cloak this night. He had his tail wrapped around the heavy egg carrying it behind him as he had in one hand on his new _tanto_ and the marauders map in the other hand.

He avoided any teachers and filch quite easily, he moved as swiftly as he could whilst remaining as silent as the breeze outside. He reached the statue of Borris the bewildered and went to the door nearest to it.

He whispered the password: "Pine fresh" as quietly as he could and the door clicked open.

He slipped into the room and manually locked the door behind him.

Sheathing his tanto he took out his wand, "Colloportus" he said clearly, locking the door magically as well, "Well I can't be too careful now can I" he added with a mutter.

He turned around for the first time to study the bathroom, he would have been impressed had he not lived in his Uncle Mephisto's mansion, and quite frankly he preferred his uncles white, black, pink and purple colour scheme to this bathroom's. It was all white and gold and gave off an image of pretentious holiness; if he was honest it reminded him of the Vatican but considerably less expensive (it was how he imagined the Vatican would look if it was built by B&amp;Q). There was a picture on the wall of a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, he shook his head at the ridiculous picture.

He sighed and put his cloak, map, egg, wand, tanto and one of the fluffy towels he found in the room down by the side of the ridiculously sized bath which in his opinion was more of a pool than a bath.

Whilst pondering how on earth this bath would help with the egg he tested out all the different taps and was mildly amused by the results. When the bath was full of hot water and various different types of bubbles he took off his pyjamas; consisting of an old t-shirt, jogging pants and plain socks, before untying his ponytail and letting his waist length hair fall down his back. He slipped carefully into the water not knowing how deep it actually was.

His feet touched the bottom but the water still went up to his neck, he swam a couple of lengths before swimming back to where he left the egg. He glared at it in frustration 'How in Gehenna's name is this helping me?'.

"I'd try putting it in the water if I were you"

He whipped around, thankfully it was just moaning myrtle.

"Myrtle please don't sneak up on me, announce yourself first... and I hope you didn't look when I was getting in the bath" He said exasperatedly.

"I closed my eyes when you got in" she said blinking her large eyes at him.

Somehow he didn't believe her, maybe it was the fact he could see a silver blush fighting its way across her translucent cheeks.

"Anyway..." she said (and he was positive she was deliberately changing the subject) "You should put the egg in the water... that's what Diggory did"

_"Spy on him as well do you... at least its not just me then"_ Haru muttered but nevertheless grabbed the egg and opened it beneath the foamy surface of the water.

He didn't hear it wail this time and could faintly hear some sort of song but couldn't hear it properly even with his sensitive hearing.

He ducked his head under the water and was glad this water didn't have chlorine in it as he opened his eyes.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,

we cannot sing above the ground,

and while you're searching, ponder this:

we've taken what you'll surely miss,

an hour long you'll have to look,

and recover what we took,

but past the hour- the prospects black,

too late; it's gone, it won't come back."

He held his breath for a full minute memorizing the song before he came up for air.

"Well that's cheerful..." Haru muttered, "Hmm... if I had to open the egg in the water and seek these creatures below ground then its obviously underwater... that much is plain... well... unless they have even bigger baths than this one more than likely the task will be in the black lake... what else lives in the black lake besides the Giant squid and Grindylows?" he asked Myrtle.

"All sorts" she said cheerfully.

"But what would have human-ish voices?" He asked more to himself than her.

He tilted his head backwards on the side of the bath and the picture caught his eye. His head snapped back to Myrtle, "Are there Merpeople in the lake?"

"Oh that's very good... Cedric was in here for ages before he came up with that answer and she was awake then" she indicated the picture, "giggling and flashing her fins..." she finished with a grumble.

"Great now I need to figure out how to breathe under water for an hour... fantastic..." he said, "Thanks Myrtle... now close your eyes I'm getting out."

* * *

He trudged back up the stairs from the common room later on map-less after having to give it to moody after he helped him hide from Filch and Snape. Quite frankly he was angry and a bit depressed; he'd gotten attached to that map.

He crept into his bedroom silently.

"_Well?_" Rin whispered, trying not to wake Nai up; as he would squeal until everyone was up.

_"I need to learn to breathe underwater for an hour_" Haru replied just as quietly.

"_That's easy... just use the bubble head charm, Angel and me can teach you_" Amaimon muttered his voice muffled from where he was lying face down on his bed, "_Now go to sleep_"

Rin and Haru exchanged looks in the darkness. Having someone around who had technically already completed their magical schooling was really handy sometimes.

* * *

He had made great progress in the bubble head charm and could easily hold it for an hour or more by the time it was halfway through January and was now trying to learn a warming charm so he didn't freeze in the lake, it wouldn't be warm in February of course. Amaimon wasn't particularly pleased that Moody now had the Map but he conceded that there was nothing else Haru really could have done.

When the Hogsmeade visit reared its ugly head again he found he was looking forward to it for once.

"Don't you think you should be working on the egg whilst everyone else is out?" Hermione said reprovingly.

"I've already worked the clue out and I've got a plan so you have nothing to worry about" Haru replied.

"Have you really?" Hermione said impressed, "Well done!"

On the Saturday of the visit their group (joined once more by Shura and Mephisto) left the castle and set off through the cold, they walked through the slushy Hogsmeade streets chatting amicably; well Luna was skipping and humming alongside of Haru, off in her own world but everyone else was chatting.

They entered the three broom sticks and Haru ducked behind Mephisto so Bagman didn't spot him, he couldn't stand that man, and luckily his Uncles tall size and white cloak made it easy to stay out of sight.

Rin, Yukio and Amaimon went up to the bar to get drinks for all of them and returned shortly.

"So you've got the egg worked out then?" Draco asked.

"Yeah it was irritatingly easy to work out once I knew how to listen to the damn thing" Haru replied with a grimace.

"Uh oh" Ron muttered looking at who had just walked through the door.

It was Rita Skeeter.

**"I really hate her..."** Senbonzakura muttered to him.

'Senbonzakura?' Haru asked.

**"Who else would be speaking in your head?"** Senbonzakura asked calmly yet sardonically.

'No one, I'm just surprised... you've been really quiet lately... in fact you haven't spoken since just after the first task when you saw Skeeter then...'

**"I haven't found anything to comment on... besides you don't need me consistently butting in on your life to know I'm here do you?"**

'well no, obviously not, but I'd rather you speak up a bit more often than you have been... don't you get lonely anyway?'

**"no... just because I'm not saying anything doesn't mean I'm not watching what's going on and besides your wolf is good company..."**

'still... don't forget to talk' Haru said before jumping back to reality.

"Are you all right Haru? you spaced out... did the whackspurts get you?" Luna asked concerned.

"No I'm fine" He replied with a smile that was wiped off his face when he saw Skeeter and her photographer walk to a table near to them.

The whole group glared viciously at her as she approached (even Luna), amazingly Rita didn't appear to notice.

The pair sat down as she said: "didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be do you think? And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing them the sights... what nonsense... he was always a bad liar. Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman...' Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo... we just need to find a story to fit it-"

"Trying to ruin some one else's life?" Haru snapped loudly unable to hold his tongue.

**"yeah you tell her!"**

A few people looked around at them.

Rita's eyes widened as she saw who it was before she beamed, "Harry!" she exclaimed, "How lovely! why don't you and some of your friends join us-"

"We don't associate with the likes of you" Draco said sneering.

"We prefer to talk to people who you can trust not to stab you in the back" Daphne added haughtily.

Mephisto and Shura just watched on silently with their eyes narrowed.

"What possessed you to write all of those things about Hagrid, eh?" Haru practically growled.

Rita raised her heavily pencilled eyebrows.

"The public has a right to know the truth Harry-" she began as if talking to a small child.

"You didn't tell the truth though?" Luna interrupted looking genuinely confused and the others couldn't tell if it was an act or not, "Hagrid isn't frightening or brutal or anything else you said..."

"And who cares if he's Half giant? he can't help who his mother was!" Harry added.

"And there's absolutely nothing wrong with him!" Rin snapped. Nai on Haru's shoulder squealed his agreement.

The whole pub had gone deathly quiet and Madam Rosemerta didn't seem to realise that the glass she was filling had overflowed onto her hand.

"Well why don't you all give me an interview about the Hagrid you know?" Rita replied fake smile still on her face, as she got a quick quotes quill and parchment out of her bag, "The man behind the muscles, the unlikely friendships and the reasons for them... would you say he was a father substitute Harry?"

The group of 10 students plus two adults looked quite disgusted, but Amaimon looked ready to murder her; her last remark angering him a great deal, Mephisto put his hand on his shoulder in warning as the lights flickered briefly.

Hermione stood up very abruptly, her Butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade, "You horrible woman" she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care do you? anything for a story, and anyone will do, wont they? Even Ludo Bagman-"

"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand" said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl... not that it needs it" she added, eyeing Hermione's bushy hair.

Haru growled, "You're just a selfish, narcissistic, greedy monster... aren't you? it doesn't matter what lie it is does it? as long as it makes people buy your stupid paper and puts money in your pocket... you don't care who you shove down in your path do you?"

Even Rita was stunned speechless by this statement.

"Why don't you all head back to the school?" Mephisto said cheerfully, interrupting the silence, "you must have homework"

"Yeah lets go" Draco agreed glaring at the reporter.

And they left; many people were staring at them as they went. Haru glanced back as they reached the door. Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill was out; it was zooming backward and forward over a piece of parchment on the table. But Mephisto stood up and walked over to her table picked up the quill and snapping it in half, Rita spluttered but didn't say anything as Mephisto said "You had better watch what you print, we didn't appreciate the lies you wrote about the Order and our exorcists, we're already suing you, you wouldn't want us to up the charges now would you?" Rita glared at his back as he and Shura walked up to Madam Rosemerta to apologize for the commotion.

"She'll be after you next, Hermione" said Ron in a low and worried voice as they walked quickly back up the street, "Haru's got the true cross order to back him up so she can't say anything else about him.."

"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Haru, then Hagrid..."

"You don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter" said Ron nervously "I'm serious, Hermione, she'll dig up something on you-"

"My parents don't read the Daily Prophet. She can't scare me into hiding!" said Hermione, now striding along so fast that it was all the others could do to keep up with her.

"The last time you looked like this angry you punched me in the face... you're not going to do that to her are you? because whilst it will be amusing to the rest of us its not a great idea" Draco asked with a smirk.

"so that was why you had that red mark on your face... you said you'd tripped up the stairs..." Daphne muttered.

"Details, details" Draco said nonchalantly.

"Of course I'm not going to punch her... I wouldn't be able to get away with it..." she said, "And Hagrid isn't going to hide anymore! He should never have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come on!"

Breaking into a run, she led them all the way back up the road, through the gates flanked by winged boars, and up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin. The curtains were drawn, and they could hear Fang barking as they approached.

"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, pounding on his front door, "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being-"

The door opened. Hermione said, "About tim-!" and then stopped, very suddenly, because she had found herself face-to-face, not with Hagrid, but with Albus Dumbledore.

"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly, smiling down at them.

Hermione spluttered and the others just stared.

"We wanted to see Hagrid" Luna eventually said.

"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling, "Why don't you all come in?"

"Oh... um ... okay," said Hermione finding her voice.

They all cramped into the Cabin, but nevertheless all 10 of them managed to fit in. Hagrid was sitting at his table, where there were two large mugs of tea. He looked a real mess. His face was blotchy, his eyes swollen, and his hair was like a tangled mess of wire.

"Hi, Hagrid" said Haru when no one else looked willing to speak.

Hagrid looked up "Lo," he said in a very hoarse voice, although he looked surprised by who was there (particularly at the two Slytherins).

"More tea, I think" Dumbledore said, closing the door behind them, drawing out his wand, and twiddling it; a revolving tea tray appeared in mid-air along with a plate of cakes. Dumbledore magicked the tray onto the table, and they all sat down on whatever surface they could as only Haru, Ron, Hermione, Luna and Dumbledore could fit around the table with Hagrid. There was a slight pause, and then Dumbledore said, "Did you by any chance hear what Miss Granger was shouting, Hagrid?"

Hermione went slightly pink, but Dumbledore smiled at her and continued, "They all still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door."

Hermione went even pinker.

"Of course we still want to know you!" Haru said flabbergasted, staring at Hagrid. "You don't think anything that Skeeter bitch- sorry, Professor," he added quickly, looking at Dumbledore.

"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said Harry," said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling.

"Er... right," said Harry sheepishly. "I just meant Hagrid how could you think we'd care what she wrote?"

Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's black eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard.

"Living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid," said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling. "I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it-"

"Not all of 'em," said Hagrid hoarsely. "Not all of 'em wan me ter stay."

"Really, Hagrid? if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time," said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon glasses, "Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"

"Yeh... yeh're not half-giant!" said Hagrid croakily.

"Hagrid, look what I've got for relatives!" Harry said furiously, "Look at the Dursleys!"

"Lots of Exorcists have demon blood in their family for Gehenna's sake and they don't let it bother them!" Rin said.

"Excellent points," said Professor Dumbledore, "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practising inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery..."

"Hagrid lots of people will hate you and try to bring you down but that's life... what does their opinions matter though? strangers who have never met you have no right to judge you, what matters is the opinions of the people who know you and are important to you" Amaimon said wisely.

"And what the other Slytherins say is a load of rubbish they were deliberately trying to get a reaction out of you" Draco said, "This is exactly what they wanted..."

"Come back and teach, Hagrid" Hermione said quietly, "please come back, we really miss you."

Hagrid gulped, more tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard.

Dumbledore stood up, "I refuse to accept your resignation Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at 8:30 in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."

Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fangs ears. When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his massive hands. Hermione and Luna kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid looked up and said, "Great man, Dumbledore... great man..."

"Yeah he is," Ron agreed.

"Ar, he's righ', o' course... yeh're all righ'... I bin stupid... my ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'..." More tears leaked out, but he wiped them away forcefully, and said, "Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here..."

Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder. Hagrid was a good seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless and young... he looked hardly older than eleven.

"Tha was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts," Hagrid croaked. "Dad was dead chuffed... thought I migh' not be a wizard see, 'cos me mum... well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great shakes at magic, really... but at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year... Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job... trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances... tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent... knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren'... well... all tha' respectable. But some don understand that. There's some who'd always hold it against yeh... Yeh know wha, Haru?" he said, looking up from the photograph of his father, "when I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it... an' now look at yeh, Haru! School champion!"

He looked at Harry for a moment and then said, very seriously, "Yeh know what I'd love, Haru? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all... yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with that egg, Harry?"

"Great," said Haru honestly. "Really great actually."

Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile. "Tha's my boy... you show 'em Haru, you show 'em. Beat 'em all."

"Well I'll certainly do my best, believe it! _Dattebayo_" Haru said enthusiastically with a grin.

Rin and Amaimon started laughing; fully confusing everyone else, whilst Yukio cuffed Haru lightly around the head muttering, "Damn _Otakus_"

"Why do I get the impression we're missing some sort of reference here?" Neville asked the others who apparently didn't get the joke either.

* * *

When the next care of magical creatures lesson did indeed roll back around Hagrid was back on his feet, no one knew whether he was making up for the skrewts or if it was because there was just two of them left but Hagrid continued on with Grubby-Planks lessons proving he knew just as much about them as she did as he had captured two unicorn foals. Unlike the older unicorns these ones were pure gold and instantly all the girls fawned over them (even pansy although she tried to hide it) it led to an awkward encounter though as unfortunately boys were able to pet unicorn foals unlike their older counterparts, as soon as Rin, Yukio, Amaimon and Haru got within three feet of them the Unicorns strained against the ropes tethering them, neighing frantically. The boys instantly backed off and the unicorns calmed down but looked quite warily at the four of them.

"I don't know what's got in to 'em..." Hagrid said quite perplexed.

The rest of the class was looking between them and the unicorn foals suspiciously.

"Its probably because we have to interact with demons a lot... we've all had demon infected wounds as well... so they must be able to tell..." Amaimon said shrugging unconcernedly. The others tried not to relax too obviously that Amaimon had a cover story prepared as it would look less believable.

**"Good thing your father has quite the silver tongue when he wants to... that situation could have gone down hill so fast"**

'Yeah that had me really concerned for a second...'

"Right well... you lot keep back a bit then..." Hagrid said, not really knowing what to do in that situation.

* * *

It was the day of the second task and Harry was at the location for it before any of the others, he'd gotten up and had breakfast early so he could warm up before he had to dive in the lake, the last thing he needed was muscle cramps, he could imagine the embarrassment of his father and Rin diving in after him because he'd gotten cramps and couldn't swim any more, or equally embarrassing being rescued by his uncle Mephisto.

This task didn't have the same rules as the first one and you could take anything you wanted into the lake however he was leaving _Senbonzakura_ with his father, he wouldn't have great manoeuvrability in the water and the sword would weigh him down. In fact the main thing he was worried about now was his weight in the water and what on earth was the thing he would miss most.

He was shirtless and wearing knee length grey cargo pants, secured with a thick, sturdy belt from which hung a sheath with his _tanto_ in it. In a holster strapped to his thigh he had his wand and just in case also had the pen knife Sirius gave him for Christmas in another compartment on the holster. His tail was hanging lose instead of wrapped around his waist as he figured it would give him more manoeuvrability in the water.

Mephisto and Angel had also acquired for him a small, yet sophisticated diving kit that he could strap to his arm it looked like a large digital wrist watch.

As everyone else (not counting the exorcists who had been there since Haru had) arrived, Draco, Daphne, Ron and Neville walked over to where Haru was stood with Rin, Yukio, Amaimon, Mephisto, Shura, Angel and Lightning.

"Hey where's Luna and Hermione?" Rin asked.

"No idea I haven't seen Hermione since last night" Ron answered.

"I haven't seen her either... or Luna for that matter" Neville agreed.

"That's odd... its not likely they'd skip coming to cheer Haru on" Draco said shrugging.

"Well I guess I should go wait with the others for this stupid task to start..." Haru muttered, "_Ja ne_"

The others all muttered: "Good Luck" as he walked off.

"Hi..." Haru muttered to Cedric, Fleur and Krum who all nodded at him.

Bagman pointed his wand at his throat as he had done at the World Cup and said, "Sonorus!" and his voice boomed out towards the stands, "Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then... One... two... THREE!"

Haru took out his wand and silently cast the bubble head charm and then the warming charm, he knew he must have looked like his was wearing a goldfish bowl on his head but didn't care quite frankly, he waded into the water and when it was deep enough dived in head first. Even with the warming charm he was quite cold however with demon blood flowing in his veins it wouldn't do him any damage.

He swam towards the centre of the lake diving further down all the time, Amaimon had carefully measured the waters depth; the deepest point of the water was 60 metres, Hermione, Yukio and himself had spent ages calculating how long they'd need to take into account for decompression and setting up the dive computer on his wrist with the right figures. If he spent fifteen minutes getting to his destination and fifteen minutes at the site, overall he would have to be in the water for a total of 90 minutes in other words an hour and a half, it would take a full hour to get back to the surface without suffering from the bends also known as decompression sickness (and he didn't fancy having nitrogen burst any of his blood vessels, Half demon or not he would suffer damage from that, it might heal later on without too much trouble but he really did not want to have go through that). What he had decided on was rescue what had been taken within the hour allotted for them and spend as long he bloody well wanted getting back to the surface. If he spent just five minutes longer at the bottom of the lake than he meant to, that would mean an extra fifteen minutes waiting for the nitrogen to decompress, luckily if that happened he had an unlimited air supply (as long as he held up the charm) so he wouldn't have to worry about running out of air.

Hopefully he wouldn't have to spend as long as he had allotted himself finding and retrieving whatever it was that had been taken from him, then he could spend less time decompressing.

As he swam on he began to wish he had used Gillyweed as Angel had suggested. He would not have to worry about the bends then as he would be forcibly adapted to the pressure of the water but it was not a regular plant you would find just any where, and Haru was positive that Snape would not give him any if he asked for it and stealing from Snape was not something he wanted to partake in; especially if it was obvious it was him.

The water was swiftly becoming opaque and even with his better eye sight he could not see far. He was swimming through some long green tendrils of an unidentifiable underwater plant when something grabbed his ankle, without thinking he drew his tanto from its sheath and spun around slashing whatever had grabbed him. Something let out a shriek of pain as the dagger cut into its flesh forcing it to let go of his ankle.

It turned out to be a Grindylow, and more were arriving as back up, he quickly palmed his tanto into his left hand in reverse grip and drew his wand, "Relashio".

He was expecting sparks to fly at them however they were blasted with scalding hot water, he kept up the spell and drove them away from him, slashing and kicking whichever ones got too close. One of the Grindylows he kicked away spotted his tail however and something like recognition flashed in its eyes and started gesticulating to the others and obviously saying something in their own language.

Haru almost jumped when he heard: _**"We humbly apologize... we will not trouble you again... please do not crush us, earth scion"**_ Spoken as if from all sides as the Grindylows retreated swiftly, casting him fearful looks as they swam off nursing their burns and cuts.

Haru shook his head in slight annoyance his pupils flashing red, 'Why couldn't they notice earlier?! instead of wasting my damn time!' he thought.

**"Well they are very week water demons, they are not known for their brains..." **Senbonzakura argued reasonably, **"By the way you need to check your dive computer more often, otherwise you might forget when you need it"**

'Why would I need to remember if you will for me?' Haru thought with a smile.

Senbonzakura tutted at his young partners attitude.

"How are you getting on?" he heard a strangely cheerful voice say.

This time he did jump. "Myrtle!" he exclaimed, even though the logical part of his brain told him she would not be able to hear him through the bubble head charm.

She giggled at him, "You want to try over there!" she said, pointing, "I won't come with you... I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close..."

"Thank you" he said sincerely, flashing her a smile and giving her a thumbs up before he swam off in the direction she pointed.

He swam for ten minutes before he spotted something in the distance. He had now spent 25 minutes in the water.

He was passing over expanses of black mud now, giving the black lake a very literal name. Then at long last, his sensitive ears heard a snatch of haunting mersong.

"An hour long you'll have to look, And to recover what we took..."

Harry swam on past a rock with crude carvings of mermen on it, following the mersong.

"...your time's half gone, so tarry not Lest what you seek stays here to rot..."

**"What lovely people aren't they?" **His partner asked sarcastically.

A cluster of extremely crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Haru spotted the merpeople who were very different to the one in the painting in the prefects bathroom.

The merpeople had grey-ish skin and longer, wilder green hair than even Harus own. Their eyes were yellow, as were their disgusting broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks, which reminded him eerily of Lunas Butterbeer cork necklace. They leered at him as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands, he could tell from their expressions that they knew what the Grindylows did and were determined to keep their distance, one even pulling a much younger mermaid back away from him, he sighed dejectedly.

**"At least their not as bad as the unicorn foals" **Senbonzakura commented causing a smile to pull at Haru's lips.

Haru sped on, staring around looking for something he recognized as his own that he would miss, the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of lake weed around some of them, and he even saw a pet Grindylow tied to a stake that shrank back from him. Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him warily, pointing at his tail and the bubble on his head, talking behind their hands to one another. Harry sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes.

A whole crowd of merpeople were floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.

His ears grew out slightly and his eyes kept flashing red in anger as he saw who was tied up there. The merpeople shrank further back away from him before he got his anger under control.

Luna was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang; her pale dirty blonde hair flowing around her. There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, whose clouds of silvery hair made Harry feel sure that she was Fleur sister. All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.

Haru sped toward the hostages; swimming as fast as he could. The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong. He didn't even think for a second and drew his tanto and slashed through the weed pinning Luna to the statue. His dive computer was flashing red at him, he was already five minutes over what he wanted to spend at the bottom of the lake meaning he had to add 15 minutes to his decompression time however Luna had been down a lot longer than he so he didn't know what to do about that, he was going to have to follow his plan and hope for the best however he didn't want to leave until Hermione and the little girl were safe (he didn't care about Cho) more than likely Dumbledore would retrieve any hostages not collected but it still didn't seem right to him to leave them.

'I'll wait until the others are gone, I'm planning on returning after the allotted time anyway, what does longer matter?'

**"Its the right thing to do... especially considering you're an exorcist, it is your job to protect people and lets face it... you don't care about whether you win this competition or not"**

'thanks... that makes me feel a lot better about this decision...'

Just then the merpeople around him pointed excitedly over his head. Haru looked up and saw Cedric swimming toward them. There was an enormous bubble around his head.

'he must have used the same charm as me...'

"Got lost!" he mouthed, looking quite panic-stricken, "Fleur and Krum are coming now!"

Haru watched Cedric pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Cho free, he was slightly disappointed a part of him had hoped Cho would get left and have to have a teacher come get her. Cedric pulled her upward and out of sight, not once considering the others.

A minute later the merpeople started screeching animatedly. Haru turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them: a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark... It must be Krum.

He appeared to have transfigured himself but quite badly.

The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and began snapping and biting at her ropes; the trouble was that Krum's new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin, and Haru was positive that if Krum wasn't careful, he was going to rip Hermione in half. Darting forward Haru shoved Krum away and cut the rope for him, Krum nodded to him and then he grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface.

Now what? Haru thought worriedly looking at the little girl. If he could be sure that Fleur was coming...

But still no sign and stretching out his senses he could sense no other human in the area. There was nothing to be done now except...

He drew his tanto once more, but the mermen now closed in around Luna and the little girl, shaking their heads at him.

Haru let some of his rage out and his ears extended fully from his head tapering to points, his pupils burned vibrant red that glowed in the gloom his tail lashed from side to side swishing the water angrily.

"Get out of the way!"

Of course they couldn't hear him, but he had the distinct impression that the mermen had understood him, because they suddenly shot backwards away from him. There might be a lot more of them than there were of him but Haru could tell; by the looks on their faces, that they would not test a Half-bloods wrath.

He darted forward and cut the weed holding the girl in place. once she was free he seized the little girl and Luna around their waists, and kicked off from the bottom.

He needed to add a total of 30 minutes to his overall decompression time, but he had already resigned himself to coming last in this race.

As he reached 30 metres water depth he settled himself for waiting here for at least 10 minutes and reverted his appearance to normal, he let out a sigh, 'this had better be worth it... if I find that there's some sort of spell on this lake to stop decompression sickness I'm going to punch Dumbledore'.

**"That would be quite humorous... I'll remind you that you said that"**

* * *

When he finally reached the surface, he instantly dispelled the bubble head charm and sighed as he looked at the diving computer he had taken just over two hours to complete the task.

The crowd in the stands were making an awful lot of noise and he winced at the volume.

"Hello again Haru" he heard a serene voice say from next to him.

"Hi Luna" he replied.

"Its awfully wet isn't it?" Luna said. She didn't even question Fleurs sisters presence.

"Yeah it isn't it" he agreed, before checking the little girl was okay. She seemed shaken up and a bit scared but was otherwise fine.

"Come on lets get back to shore, Luna can you help me with her? I don't think she can swim very well"

* * *

They pulled Fleurs little sister through the water, back toward the bank where the judges stood watching, some of the merpeople accompanied them back but gave them a wide berth.

Haru could see Madam Pomfrey fussing over Hermione, Krum, Cedric, and Cho, all of whom were wrapped in thick blankets, she appeared to be forcing potions down Krum's and Cedric's throats both of whom looked quite ill.

Dumbledore, Percy and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Haru and Luna from the bank as they swam nearer. Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"

"She's fine!" Haru shouted.

Dumbledore and Bagman pulled Luna upright as Haru was dragged out of the water by Amaimon who was trying not to look frantic; Fleur had broken free of Madame Maxime and was hugging her sister.

"It was ze Grindylows... zey attacked me... oh Gabrielle, I thought... I thought..."

"Come here you," said Madam Pomfrey. She seized Haru and pulled him away from Amaimon, the other Exorcists and his friends over to Hermione and the others, wrapped him so tightly in a blanket that he felt as though he were in a straitjacket, and quickly cast several diagnostic spells.

After a moment, with the Exorcists looking over her shoulder, she straightened and said: "Well done Mister Potter you have successfully avoided being on daily potions for the next few weeks"

"What do you mean by that?" Amaimon asked.

"All of the hostages had stasis spells placed on them so they would not be affected by the pressure, which were set to release once they reached the surface" Madame Pomfrey explained, "But it apparently occurred to no one to place similar spells on the champions, both Diggory and Krum have mild decompression sickness, thankfully Fleur wasn't down long enough so be effected so badly and could be fixed immediately. Mister Potter obviously accounted for decompression and is perfectly fine."

"Haru, well done!" Hermione cried, "You did it! you might have come second to last but you did so well!"

"Yes you did very well Haru" Luna added having just been forced into the seat next to him with a warm towel wrapped around her.

"Thanks Hermione, thanks Luna!"

"You haff a water beetle in your hair Herm-own-ninny," said Krum. Haru had the distinct impression that Krum was drawing her attention back onto himself; perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her from the bottom of a cold lake, but Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said, "You're well outside the time limit, though Haru... Did it take you ages to find us?"

"No... I found you okay... but would have felt guilty leaving any one behind so I waited... anyway it worked out that if I spent just 30 minutes in total reaching the bottom of the lake and actually at the bottom I would need to spend an hour ascending anyway otherwise I'd look as ill as Cedric and Krum do right now and because I took even longer than that on the bottom it took even longer to ascend again"

Hermione nodded as if she didn't know this already, it was best to give the impression that she and Yukio hadn't helped create those calculations.

"You did really well... and you made the right choice waiting behind" Amaimon said.

"Yeah we're proud of you kiddo" Mephisto said speaking for all of them as he ruffled his nephews green hair.

Nai leapt off his fathers shoulder onto his own cheering: _**"Haru! Haru! Haru!"**_ over and over again.

Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges and said: "A conference before we give the marks, I think" The judges went into a huddle.

Madam Pomfrey went to fetch Fleur and her sister. Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them.

"Look after Gabrielle," she told her and then she turned to Haru "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly "Even though she was not your 'ostage."

"Yeah," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment (a trait he picked up from Rin) "It wouldn't have sat right with me to leave anyone down there."

Fleur bent down, kissed Haru twice on each cheek, he felt his face burn hot enough to fry an egg, and Amaimon and Mephisto winking at him from behind her back was not helping matters.

Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice suddenly boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows... Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

Applause sounded from the stands but it was more for politeness than anything else..

"I deserved zero" said Fleur her voice shaking.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour" there was enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Haru saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look, he rolled his eyes at them. "We therefore award him forty-seven points. Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior. Mephisto, Shura and Angel glared at him.

"Harry Potter- sorry I mean Haru Faust- also used the bubble-head charm to great effect," Bagman continued "He returned last and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr Po-Faust was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety not merely his own and large pauses in his return to avoid decompression sickness. Most of the judges" and Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fibre and impressive amount of thought into all possible circumstances and merits full marks. However... Mr Fausts score is forty-five points."

His friends all clapped very loudly. Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering for Haru to listen.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the 24th of June" continued Bagman, "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

'Thank god its finally over until June 24th'

**"Pity though you didn't get to punch Dumbledore..."**

* * *

**Well that's it for another chapter! I'm not entirely sure about the information I used on the 'bends' however it stands to reason it would be an issue for the second task because pretty much all Scottish lakes are at least 65 metres deep (according to Google) the information I based the calculations on was from a book called 'black gold' written by Chris Ryan as part of the 'alpha force' series, I hope its accurate info, it should be because Chris Ryan is ex-SAS so it should be somewhat accurate... ah well, if not I tried.**

**see ya XD**

**Someone asked for translations so here ya go:**

**Translations (well the translation for what I'm trying say or intended to say any way it might not be wholly 100% accurate because I don't speak Japanese but this is my best shot):**

**Dattebayo- ya know (Naruto reference, wrongly translated/ replaced as 'believe it' in the dub)**

**Shimatta- Damn it (I think... I know its a cuss word along this sort of line but it might be a bit worse than 'damn it'... it doesn't really matter in this context anyway, its a hard one to remember because it keeps being subbed differently in the anime I've seen)**

**Senbonzakura- thousand cherry blossoms **

**Ja ne- see ya**


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